Wyoming’s top water managers are warning that a significant drawdown of Flaming Gorge Reservoir this spring is likely imminent due to low snowpack and generally dry conditions throughout the seven-state Colorado River Basin region. Wyoming is a headwaters of the Colorado River system, mostly via the Green River, which feeds Flaming Gorge. As of Jan. 8, snow cover across the West was at its lowest since 2001. … Flaming Gorge, which straddles the Wyoming-Utah border, is one of the key reservoirs in the Colorado River system that water managers turn to for extra releases when there’s a projected shortage — primarily to ensure operational water levels at Lake Powell.

Other snowpack news around the West:

• Tahoe Daily Tribune (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.): California is drought free, yet snow drought plagues most of the west: Why, and how Tahoe fares
• The Park Record (Park City, Utah): Drought, warmth get a grip on Utah as snow fails to fall
• The Aspen Times (Colo.): Can Colorado get back to normal snowpack conditions this winter?
• KOLO (Reno, Nev.): Nevada State Climatologist says Reno is experiencing one of the warmest starts to winter on record
• WBUR (Boston, Mass.): ‘Truly awful’ winter snowfall dashes hopes for Colorado River