The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Not out of the woods yet
The near-constant snow over the last few weeks has been a boon for local water conditions. Releases from Taylor Park Reservoir are scheduled to increase, and both ranching and recreation will benefit. But water levels across the region are still low and no one is out of the woods when it comes to drought.
“The snowpack continues to climb and the cold temperatures have delayed the runoff, to the benefit of water users. We’re definitely looking at a better snowpack and a better irrigation season than just a few weeks ago,” said Frank Kugel, general manager of the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District.
The average snow water content across the Upper Gunnison District has climbed to 80 percent from around 50 percent, and in Taylor Park Reservoir, it’s at 83 percent of the seasonal average. Kugel said the peak is three weeks later than normal. As a result of all the precipitation, the outlook for releases from Taylor Park Reservoir is much improved.
“Releases are currently at 50 cubic feet per second [cfs]. We’re hoping to get that up to 100 cfs later this week and then increase gradually throughout May and June. So the snowfall from the last couple of storms made a big impact for irrigators and for the boating community.”
That doesn’t, however, mean the Gunnison Valley is in the clear when it comes to drought. “Despite the rosy snowpack numbers we’re currently experiencing record low flows in the Gunnison River as measured at Gunnison,” said Kugel.
“It’s still a reminder we’re a long way from escaping this drought,” Kugel said.
That fact is evident down at Blue Mesa Reservoir, where the water flowing into the reservoir looks like a river rather than a reservoir, well past the bridge to Lake City. Paul Davidson, with the Bureau of Reclamation, said the elevation of the reservoir is projected to be about 7,473 feet by the end of the runoff season. That’s about 43 feet below what he would expect at that time of year.
The good news was that the reservoir held steady through the winter, but two low snow years in a row compound the situation. Last year was the third-driest on record and this year is coming in at the fourth or fifth driest.
“This is kind of unprecedented in the historic record that we have… We haven’t really seen that before, and it’s stressing the system. We’re hoping we can get through the season without total disaster as far as meeting water needs of irrigators and municipalities and endangered fish and all the things we operate for,” Davidson said.
So far, he added, there is a cooperative spirit throughout the basin as different groups work together to make use of the water we have.
