South Platte basin snowpack shrinks

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4/10/2009 4:12:00 PM

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South Platte basin snowpack shrinks

Debra Orecchio
Correspondent

The latest measurements of the snowpack in the mountains show that there was a significant decline in March.

According to a press release issued by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the South Platte area recorded one of the lowest snowpack percentages. "Snowpack" is the seasonal accumulation of snow.

Measurements conducted in the South Platte basin, which includes Park County, show that the snowpack is 86 percent of average, a drop of 13 percentage points from measurements taken in January. At that time, the snowpack measured 99 percent of average.

Statewide, the snowpack is about 96 percent of average. That's the first statewide snowpack reading of this season to be below average, according to Allen Green, state conservationist with NRCS.

Back on Jan. 1, the statewide snowpack was 120 percent of average, indicating just how dry the past few months have been, said the press release.

Chris Pacheco, assistant snow survey supervisor with NRCS, said in an e-mail that NRCS has snowpack projection graphs that use historical data to project different probabilities given the current conditions. Pacheco said that, given where the snowpack is today, there is only a 30 percent chance that the area could reach the average peak snow water content this season.

The press release also stated that statewide reservoir storage remains just slightly above average at 103 percent. In January, it was at 98 percent of average. Most of the reservoirs are storing at near-average volumes. The reservoir storage in the South Platte area is at 99 percent, compared to the 95 percent of average that was seen in January.

Leon Kot, district conservationist with NRCS, said in an e-mail that "we have been getting snow at higher elevations in the mountains, so next month's readings might recover somewhat."

Pacheco said that in the South Platte basin, March provides the largest portion of the water content in the snowpack, at 19 percent. January contributes the second-largest amount, at 19 percent. April and October are tied for providing the smallest contributions to the snow water content, at 8 percent.

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