Despite a heavier-than-average April, we're still running below normal ("normal" in the long view, that is), so we can expect further water restrictions this year in Denver.
The utility is expected to announce limits that will closely mirror the two-day per week mandatory watering schedule used last summer, along with surcharges for excess water use.
Cities such as Aurora and Colorado Springs have already announced strict two-day per week watering rules, a move designed to guard stored water supplies.
Statewide reservoirs are just 81 percent full and Denver Water, which has one of the largest municipal storage systems, said its reservoirs are only 72 percent full, about 10 percent below normal.
On the bright side, it's not as bad (they say) as 2002.
"We need to be careful about how we characterize all of this," Deputy State Engineer Jack Byers said. "This isn't as bad as 2002." For example, back then, the April 1 snowpack measured just 52 percent of average and dropped to just 19 percent of average by May 1, he said. In contrast, this year's April 1 reading recorded 65 percent of average.
But weather forecasts offer mixed signals and little outlook for more relief, said Klaus Wolter, a forecaster with the Climate Diagnostics Center in Boulder. "In the next 14 days, we're likely to lose some ground. Let's just hope it doesn't get too hot," Wolter said.
Amen.
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