Draft for SJNF: Password protected webpage.
Spring Melt Fun Facts
The Southwest Basin of Colorado is experiencing a phenomenal year for snowpack accumulation - welcome news after the record-breaking drought last summer. This basin currently has snowpack at an incredible 1454% of median for this time of year!
Expect to see rivers that are fed by high elevation snowmelt to have impressive flows over the next few weeks. You can track real-time flows for your local rivers, like the Animas River in Durango, or the Upper San Juan River in Pagosa Springs, at https://waterwatch.usgs.gov/?m=real&r=co
It is remarkable that Southwest Colorado could have such a huge swing between the recent exceptional drought to abundant precipitation within the same 12-month period. However, we know from looking at the climate records preserved in ancient tree rings that much larger magnitude droughts have occurred over the past thousand years in our area. https://wwa.colorado.edu/resources/colorado-river/climate.html
Expect to see rivers that are fed by high elevation snowmelt to have impressive flows over the next few weeks. You can track real-time flows for your local rivers, like the Animas River in Durango, or the Upper San Juan River in Pagosa Springs, at https://waterwatch.usgs.gov/?m=real&r=co
It is remarkable that Southwest Colorado could have such a huge swing between the recent exceptional drought to abundant precipitation within the same 12-month period. However, we know from looking at the climate records preserved in ancient tree rings that much larger magnitude droughts have occurred over the past thousand years in our area. https://wwa.colorado.edu/resources/colorado-river/climate.html
Dolores River Update
Status as of May 2019: there will be a short season this year.
For supporting information, see the below:
Latest updates on McPhee Reservoir releases to the Dolores River
USGS latest flows on the Dolores River
