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3 El Nino conditions for the next six months, How long it will last or how strong it will be is difficult to forecast at this time, Klaus Wolter's forecast can be viewed in detail at: h!~It;aj:Y~Y~Y:.~~d~~~!l~lmLgh~yL::kQl~I~~:I2~I!r~~iif:.!i~1!t~L~~L:1~~J]}:g]1 Other Data - The U,S, Drought Monitor map (as of March 19) shows most of Colorado now in the 'Moderate drought' category, and the southwest comer of Colorado in 'Severe Drought', The Seasonal U,S, Drought Outlook map through June 2002 shows drought likely to persist in the southwest comer of the state, with slow improvement but some persisting water shortages for the rest of Colorado, 2. ImDact Task Force Comments: Agriculture- The Drought Task force chair JeffBrislawn passed along connents for Bob McLavey, Agricultural Impact Task Force Chair who reported that 3 counties have requested Secretary of Agriculture Drought Declarations: Phillips, Kit Carson, and Cheyenne, At this point it is too soon to tell how the growing season will be impacted, Prowers County declared a drought emergency following wildfires last week. Jeff Tranel with CSU Coop extension mentioned that the temperatures will also have a great impact on the growing season if cool temperatures delay planting, Municipal- Barry Cress from DOLA reported that no municipal systems have reported any problems meeting demands, Wildlife- Mary Halstead with DOW reported that the division is monitoring the situation but not taking any steps at this time, Economic Impacts - Recently appointed chair Andrea Anglada from OSPB reported that she is brushing up on the issues and her office is considering factoring in drought to the state's economic model. Tourism - Recently appointed chair Stefanie Dalgar from the Colorado Tourism Office was not present but reported that the ski industry has done better than expected this year, The rafting industry could suffer from the anticipated low runoff. 3. Areas of Concern and Potential ImDacts So far Colorado is drier this winter than it has been the past five years, which were all below average on March 1, The March 1 snowpack of 56% of average is the lowest March 1 snowpack since 1981, the last major drought in Colorado, 1979 and 1980 had well above average March 1 snowpack. The last time we had above average snowpack on March 1 was in 1997, It is becoming highly unlikely that precipitation deficits will be made up this spring, All of Colorado is experiencing drought to some extent, but southeast and southwest Colorado are the areas of