Colorado Water Supply Oulook Report April 1 2003

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