Rocky Mountain water alarm
Colorado reported record‑low snowpack this April, with some high‑country areas described as 'totally barren' and cities already imposing water restrictions as farmers brace for serious stress. (gazette.com) A late‑season storm did dump several feet of high‑elevation snow in the Sierra Nevada and brought multiple inches of rain to parts of California, but basin forecasts still show April–July streamflow at only 48%–91% of normal in Idaho panhandle basins and forecasters expect at best a mixed regional fire season outlook. ( )
The Rocky Mountains entered April with record-low snowpack in Colorado, and water managers are already tightening use as farmers prepare for short supplies. (gazette.com) Mountain snow works like a reservoir that melts slowly into rivers, canals and taps through spring and summer. On April 11, the federal SNOTEL network showed Colorado basins with stunning deficits, including 29% of median snow water equivalent in the Gunnison and 0% at several individual sites. (wcc.sc.egov.usda.gov, wcc.sc.egov.usda.gov) Denver Water said April 6 snowpack in its collection system was 46% of normal in the Colorado River Basin and just 4% of normal in the South Platte River Basin, the worst on record there. The utility imposed Stage 1 drought rules on March 25 for roughly 1.5 million customers. (denverwater.org, coloradosun.com) Colorado Springs has not moved to mandatory limits, but its utility board entered Water Shortage Preparation on March 18. Colorado Springs Utilities said local reservoirs were 63% full in April, enough for 243 days of demand, while March water use ran 9% above March 2025. (csu.org, gazette.com) On farms in Crowley County and across southeastern Colorado, the problem is not lawn watering but whether irrigation water arrives at all. Bill Long of the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District told The Gazette, “This is a disaster,” as ditch companies and growers brace for canals to run short or shut early. (gazette.com) The stress is not confined to Colorado. Idaho officials said April-to-July streamflow forecasts in Panhandle basins ranged from 48% to 91% of normal, a spread that points to below-average runoff even before the hottest months arrive. (cdapress.com) A weekend storm did bring a burst of relief farther west. The National Weather Service office in Sacramento forecast 1 to 2 feet of snow above 4,500 feet, with up to 3 to 4 feet on the highest Sierra peaks, plus heavy rain in the foothills and northern Sacramento Valley. (weather.gov, forecast.weather.gov) But one storm does not rebuild a season’s snowpack. The National Interagency Fire Center’s April outlook still projected normal significant fire potential through June for the Northern Rockies, with above-normal potential appearing in July for the northern Idaho Panhandle. (nifc.gov, mtpr.org) That leaves the West heading into runoff season with less stored water than usual and little room for more losses. In Colorado, where the snowpack usually carries rivers through summer, the question is no longer whether the winter was dry but how far the shortages spread by July. (kunc.org, gazette.com)
