CONTINENTAL DIVIDE, Colo. -- On snowshoes and skis, members of the Natural Resources Conservation Service trudge through the same snow they came to measure on the Continental Divide.

"What we are doing is measuring a core of snow and weighing that to determine what the water content is," said Mike Gillespie, a snow survey supervisor.

These manual snow surveys have taken place for nearly eight decades in Colorado. The data are combined with measurements from more than 100 automated SNOTEL stations.

"We get daily readings on snowpack, precipitation and air temperature along with snow depth," Gillespie said.

This information is critical because 80 percent of the state's surface water comes from melting snowpack.

"Whether it's filling a reservoir or watering your lawn, that kind of water availability information really is indicated by what we measure up here today," Gillespie said.

Measurements taken Thursday indicate about 89 percent of the average snowpack at this location. Statewide that number is 85 percent, but Gillespie is not concerned yet.

"We've still got 60 percent of the winter ahead of us," he said, "and a lot can happen between now and April and May."