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<br />COLORADO <br />WATER SUPPLY OUTLOOK REPORT <br />APRIL 1, 2003 <br /> <br />Summary <br /> <br />The blizzard, which pounded Colorado's Front Range, dominated the weather pattern for <br />the month of March. . It brought extremely beneficial moisture and a significant <br />improvement to the water supplies for those areas favored by the storm. Elsewhere across <br />the state, water supplies see little to no improvement this month. Even with the impact of <br />the blizzard, most of the state can continue to expect below average summer runoff. With <br />the existing poor reservoir storage, most wate~ users can expect continued shortages, <br />especially during the late summer months. While .additional moisture can continue to <br />improve water supplies, a significantly wet spring is certainly the exception, rather than the <br />rule. <br /> <br />Snowpack <br /> <br />The blizzard which hit the Front Range during March 17 - 20th brought as much as seven <br />. feet of snow to several foothill locations. While a storm. of this magnitude effects <br />everyone's daily routine; the biggest benefit lies in the improved streamflows that will <br />result, along with the improved soil moisture across an extremely dry portion of the state. <br />This month's snow surveys show the impact of the March blizzard with an excellent <br />recovery to above average snowpack readings along the Front Range tributaries of the <br />South Platte River. Even a few basins in the upper reaches of the Colorado River and <br />along the Arkansas River benefited from the storm and are now above average. The <br />statewide snowpack improved to 94% of average this month, up from last month's 83% of <br />average. As expected, the South Platte and Arkansas basins increased the most from last <br />month, with increases of 35% and 17% of average, respectively. The state can now boast <br />of average to slightly above average snowpack readings in the South Platte, Arkansas and <br />Colorado basins. Slightly below average totals were measured across the Yampa, White, <br />and North Platte basins. With the southwestern portion of the state missing out entirely on <br />the blizzard's bonanza, snowpack percentages continue to lag considerably below average <br />in these basins. The state's lowest basinwide percentage is only 75% of average in the San <br />Juan, Animas, Dolores, and San Miguel basins. This is followed closely by the 76% of <br />average snowpack measured in the Rio Grande Basin. This year's April 1 snowpack is <br />now 1.5 to 2 times that measured last year at this time, with a statewide total of 179% of <br />last year. , <br />