Water Flow Appears Adequate, but Officials Warn of Dry Spell

By Chris Casey, Greeley Tribune, Colo.

Apr. 12–LOVELAND — Strong flows on the South Platte River and close-to-average snowpack in the mountains bodes adequate water supplies for the spring growing season. That is unless dry weather grips the region, and there are signs it could.

Water officials announced a mostly optimistic outlook at the spring water users meeting of the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District at The Ranch on Wednesday morning.

While Colorado’s overall snowpack was 76 percent of average on April 1, snow levels were at 95 percent and 102 percent, respectively, in the Upper Colorado River and South Platte River tributaries — key water supplies for the region.

“I think we’re looking at a reasonable runoff this year,” said Andy Pineda, water resources manager for the conservancy district, told the 100-person audience.

Pineda cautioned that water storage in area basins this spring, especially in the Big Thompson and Poudre rivers, is “still a long way from full.” He said a decent runoff fueled by spring storms, plus a delay in requests for irrigation water, will help fill the reservoirs.

“If we move into a very dry year, we could experience some shortages,” Pineda said.

The April-to-June forecast calls for lower-than-normal precipitation, he said, which will more seriously affect the Western Slope. If a La Nina weather pattern develops, he said, it could further diminish spring moisture.

The region’s most persistent drought areas are Wyoming and western Nebraska, Pineda noted.

Jim Hall, an engineer with the Colorado Division of Water Resources, said reservoirs along the South Platte on the eastern plains are full. They were only at 12 percent of capacity on Nov. 1.

Hall said flows on the South Platte are still below average and have been for five years, but spring flows taken in Kersey and Julesburg are encouraging. Only the North Sterling Reservoir along the river’s main stem in the eastern plains is shy of capacity.

“It’s still too early to be optimistic,” Hall said. “We’ll just hope we get that storm this weekend and we get a few more storms and things turn out well.”

The conservancy district is delivering water at a 60 percent quota. That means Colorado-Big Thompson Project water users get six-tenths of an acre-foot for every unit they own. An acre-foot equals nearly 326,000 gallons of water, approximately the amount used by two urban families per year.

The board of directors may decide to boost the quota to 70 or 80 percent by the end of this week. Last spring, the quota was set at 80 percent.

If the quota is set that high, Greeley will get more water than it can store and will lease the excess to area farmers. Last summer, the city leased 11,000 acre-feet of water, said Jon Monson, Greeley’s director of water and sewer.

“It looks like it will be an adequate water year,” Monson said.

That means it’s likely Greeley residents will again be allowed to water their lawns three days a week. Still, it’s critical to not be wasteful, he said.

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Copyright (c) 2007, Greeley Tribune, Colo.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

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