The N.R.C.S. has released their official Water Supply Outlook report (stream forecast) for April. You can view or download the full report at this link. In summary, and as most of you can see by looking out the window, what snowpack we had at the beginning of February has been drastically reduced by the warm conditions through February and March, especially at the lower & mid-level elevations.
Our relevant local measurement sites are currently reporting snow water equivalent (SWE) measurements of
- Nevada Ridge (7020 ft) – 88% of normal
- N Fk Elk Creek (6250 ft) – 74% of normal
- Lubrecht Flume (4680 ft) – 0% of normal
What does this mean for Nevada creek irrigators? Our typical spring “run-off” has already run off for the most part. N.R.C.S.’s forecast for Nevada creek streamflow is 65% of normal for the April thru July period, and only 55% of normal for the April thru May period. This means that we can anticipate more restrictive levels of flow available for decreed water rights.
Contract Water Users: The good news is that we have a full reservoir, therefore we can provide 100% of all contracted water. The bad news is that with the lower than normal streamflows, the outlook for available “flood” water is minimal, if any availability at all.
As always though, these conditions can change rapidly with spring rains or late snow accumulations.