DWR_4151835

• Title: FEBRUARY 1997 SWSI: COLORADO WATER SUPPLY CONDITIONS UPDATE, SURFACE WATER SUPPLY INDEX
• Year: 1997
• Document Type - Publications and Reports: SWSI Monthly Report

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SAN JUAN/DOLORES BASIN February, 1997
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Basinwide Conditions Assessment:
The SWSI value of 3.4 indicates that for January the SAN JUAN/DOLORES RIVER BASINS
:'asin water supplies were well above normal. The Natural s w °'x strip,.w.t.r svly I" 141atory
Resources Conservation Service reports February 1 snowpack ,_
as 168% of normal. Flow at the gaging station Animas River - 3 : . ;
near Durango averaged 263 cfs as compared to the long term :; : 1=
_
average of 210 cfs. Storage in McPhee,Vallecito, and Lemon 2- - _
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reservoirs totaled 91% of normal as of the end of January. I 1- 1 ; __.
The weather had a significant impact on water supply g ° _. �'
8n P _ .Vi ch Ili- ' ' V
conditions in southwest Colorado during January. Three _ � , ; v
storms impacted the entire area during the month. In cr 2 f-,,,v-
,
Durango, 40.6 inches fell in one storm breaking a 100 year o -3^ v
old record for snowfall in a storm. For the month, Durango
r:
received 5.67 inches of precipitation from 65.8 inches of snow. _. ,
JANB9 JAN99 JAN90 JAN91 JAN92 JAN93 JAN94 JAN95 JAN96 JAN97
Precipitation in Durango so far this water year has been 15.3 AONTW YEAR
inches, as compared to the average annual total of 19.5
inches. Chances are excellent that the average annual total
will be exceeded.
The basinwide snowpack as of the end of January is
second in the state only to the Gunnison basin. Snow courses ANIMAS RIVER NR. DURANGO
are all showing high levels of water. The highest figures ill 19D FLOW BY MATER YEAR
the basin were recorded on the Dolores drainage and at 170
Vallecito. Throughout the basin,especially on the Dolores and 160
1S0
La Plata River drainages, very deep, dry snows left the area 1
30
with some of the highest snow and water content since the ;
1979-1980 years. The Upper San Juan snow course shows i ;l
193% of normal. es 90 _...-----~
Low temperatures reached below zero in mid-January 5 L 70- �t _____-----
and snowpacks in the lower elevations settled significantly by 1 60 �-r
SO
the month's end. 30 f -��
River flows were at seasonal base flow levels on most 2O _�-
streams. The La Plata River is running about 50% higher 1D -
Oet Nbv Ore Jon Frb wreh
than last year at this time. MONTH
Q WCT(1973) O ow(1977) A AVG X 1997
Outlook
The snowpack indicates the next runoff will be above
average. However, basin administrators feel that generally
these early stages cannot be used to predict the spring REPRESENTATIVE RESERVOIRS
outflows. 280 MA DOLOFES-AN BASINS
260 r�j/
240
220
i 200
/\
j 180
/\\\
Li rS 160
a�g 110
b 2 120
r 100/".\\
a
3 aD 7\
60
40 `\\
20-V/.7:/"\\\\\
McPhee Vs IIrelto Lemon
® Avq. 1191 Cont.MA ® 1l31197 Contents
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