With all the heavy snow fall in the northwest and western states will this have any effect on the level of Lake Mead? How has it been doing? Has it gotten any better?
Last August, the Bureau of Reclamation predicted a 57% chance of a shortage at Lake Mead by 2020, up from 52% earlier last year. The combined capacity of Lake Powell and Lake Mead was lower than it’s ever been in the 19 years of drought along the Colorado River.
That's changed for the better, thanks to the “near-normal” snowpack so far this season, but not by much.
For one, 2018 was one of the hottest and driest years on record in the Colorado River watershed. For another, the intermountain west remains in a 20-year drought, the current conditions of which a normal snow season won’t go very far in alleviating.
As of February 1, the latest estimates of the snowpack in the Colorado River basin in Colorado, for example, stood at 112% of normal. Throughout Colorado, it was at 105%, an improvement from 94% of normal on January 1.
And yes, February has seen a fair amount of snow, especially over the last few days. Some ski areas are reporting up to 80 inches of new accumulation at the highest elevations this past week. That certainly raises the snowpack percentages, perhaps significantly.
Still, according to Colorado officials, “It's not enough to correct the years of drought or even guarantee a good year for water flow by itself.”
But at least the snowpack is above average so far this winter. It's better than the alternative.
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Straski
Feb-23-2019
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Charlie Zumpano
Feb-23-2019
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steve crouse
Feb-23-2019
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