Snowpack at 142% after week of storms in Upper Colorado River Basin
Snowpack levels crucial to water supplies in the Colorado River basin have been rising over the past week as storms hit the Rocky Mountains. Dec. 27 measurements of 102% snowpack in the region — just above normal — had risen to 142% as of today (Jan. 3) in the Upper Colorado River Basin. That week-to-week change is good news but demonstrates the volatility of snowpack levels. Just as rainfall makes little to no impact on the level of Lake Mead, snowpack levels in early January shouldn’t be seen as a sign that a few snowstorms will erase years of drought, experts say. Kyle Roerink, executive director of the conservation group Great Basin Water Network, said long-term forecasts showed river flows expected to be about 87% between now and April.
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