DWR_4151917 - Laserfiche WebLink

r d SAN JUAN/DOLORES BASIN February, 1998 Basinwide Conditions Assessment: The SWSI value of-1.7 indicates that for January the SAN JUAN/DOLORES RIVER BASINS basin water supplies were slightly below normal. The 5 Surface Water S.CPIy Index History National Resources Conservation Service reports February 1 4 snowpack as 69% of normal. Flow at the gaging station _ - , 4- 0 Animas River near Durango averaged 234 cfs as compared to - `_;. " ti the long term average of 210 cfs. Storage in McPhee, 2-. �' � L Vallecito, and Lemon reservoirs totaled 128% of normal as of 1 the end of January. D f 1' ' h Mountain snow pack was found to be very dry at 25% - ti v : i water content. Snow courses in the Dolores drainage showedv-�� '1 , 1' g .2- ,,t4 :v slightly better than other totals, but the basin as a whole has a , — the lowest snow pack numbers in the state. River levels in -3- - fi. 1 general were running near normal. Reservoir storage carry -4 , JAN90 JAN90 JAN91 JAN92 JAN93 JAN94 JANOS JAN99 JAN97 JAN99 over amounts remained the same as last month with ,,ONTH,,.E,,„ significant supplies contained in the major facilities of southwestern Colorado. During the Snowdown Parade in Durango late in January one brightly polished snow plow brandished the banner "Donde es el Nino?" (Where is el Nino?). The ANIMAS RIVER NR. DURANGO sentiment was felt by much of the populace in southwestern 190 FLOW ETV WATER,EAR Colorado in witnessing one front after another drive north or 170 170 south or just dissipate before predictions panned out. Most 160 snowfall in Durango and similar elevations around the area 1 0 had melted out by month's end. Last year's 65.8 inch January n ;�o total seemed like a distant memory, and the January average of 17.4 inches was far from being realized. Temperatures in LL g 1u0 Durango were about the same as normal for daily highs, but i 7the lows averaged 7°higher than normal producing a general SD thaw in the frozen soils and the elimination of snow cover. 40 .r 30 am 20 � Outlook 10 — Oct Nov Oae Jen Feb W rch It is too early to predict the kind of runoff year the MONTH 0 WET(1973) 0 00Y C10/7) O AVG x 1.898 area is facing, and storms early in February brought an increase to the high level snow pack. Early U.S. Bureau of Reclamation predictions for rivers south of Pagosa Springs were expecting near normal conditions. REPRESENTATIVE RESERVOIRS DOLORES-ANIMAS BASINS 350 300- 250::://://"\\ b un h 2 150 r i 100_./7/".\\ SO 0 //�\ V /\ 17////1\\\ MCP.. VallecIto Lemon ® Avg. 1/31 Contantf ® 1/3VYE Contents 9