Colorado Just Experienced Its Worst Snowpack Ever

Hydrologist Maureen Gutsch trudged through the mud and slush to confirm a grim picture: Colorado just had its worst snowpack since statewide records began in 1941. Even more troubling, mountain snow accumulations peaked a month early and contained just half the average moisture, per the AP. As a warm winter with poor skiing conditions gave way to early springtime record heat, snow is vanishing from all but the highest elevations in the West—a clear sign that water shortages could worsen the ongoing significant drought, barring an unexpected deluge.

An old saying in the West is that whiskey's for drinking and water's for fighting over. It applies all the more when water becomes scarce amid a decades-long drought driven in part by human-caused climate change. The heaviest snows in the Rockies fall in late winter and early spring, including now. Snowfall isn't unusual in the highest regions, even into June. Now, however, cities in the region are imposing water-use restrictions, and ranchers are wondering how they'll feed and water their cattle. Meanwhile, the threat of devastating wildfires looms.

The Colorado River's Upper Basin states of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming remain at an impasse in negotiations with the Lower Basin states of Arizona, California, and Nevada to create new rules for managing the water during shortages. After missing multiple deadlines set by federal officials in recent months to at least create outlines of an agreement, the two sides are hiring more lawyers in case the dispute goes to court. Meanwhile, after the driest and warmest winter on record, Salt Lake City announced a 10% daily cut in water use. Reductions will be voluntary for residents, but the biggest nonresidential water users will have to consume no more than 200,000 gallons per day.

On the other side of the Rockies, Denver Water has approved limits to watering lawns and other restrictions, with hopes of achieving a 20% cut. The city gets much of its water from mountain snow that accumulates east of the Continental Divide and on the western side. Tunnels under the mountains divert half the city's water from snow-fed streams on the western side. "We're 7 to 8 feet of snow short of where we need to be," Nathan Elder, water supply manager for Denver Water, says in a statement. "It would take a tremendous amount of snow to recover at this point, so it's time to turn our attention to preserving what we have." More here.