March Could Be Driest Since 1911

DENVER -- Barring a major storm, March 2004 on the Front Range will go down as the driest since 1911, and the mountains aren't much better.

Compounding the plight, warm weather the past few weeks have caused snow at lower levels to melt and evaporate, said Mike Gillespie, snow survey supervisor for the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

"We're losing snowpack at a time when we should be adding to it significantly," he said.

Snowpack, the accumulation in the mountains that melts to fill reservoirs and supplies most of the state's water year-round, tumbled from 88 percent of the 30-year average at the beginning of the month to 72 percent Monday. Southwest Colorado, which has been hit the hardest by the drought the past four years, fell from 109 percent of average to 76 percent as of Monday. The South Platte River basin, which includes most of metro Denver, is the state's driest, at 60 percent.

The dry March has many water providers thinking about 2002, one of the driest years on record in Colorado. It was marked by high temperatures, wildfires and rapidly falling reservoir levels.

"I walk a lot in the morning. Last year, there was always some kind of dew on the grass. But this year is just like in 2002 -- there is nothing on the ground," said John Boyle, vice president of Consolidated Mutual Water Co. in Lakewood.

In Evergreen, for example, in March 2002, the year of the big Hayman and Coal Seam fires, the community had over an inch of moisture with rain and melted snow. Last year, the March blizzard helped the melted snow added up to just over 6 inches of moisture for the month. But this year there's less than seven-tenths of inch of moisture in the area.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service's snow measurements, taken on Wednesday, make up the April 1 snowpack report, which is the leading indicator of how much water will be in reservoirs this summer.

Gross Reservoir, one of a number of reservoirs that provide water to Denver Water, is just 54 percent of capacity.

Utilities across the state also use the April 1 report to decide whether to impose limits on watering lawns and gardens, starting May 1.

Aurora has already promised restrictions for its 300,000 customers this summer. The Aurora City Council will set those restrictions at its April 12 meeting.

Last week, the Aurora City Council set surcharges for those who fail to use at least 30 percent less water than they did in 2000, before the current drought took hold.

Denver Water has yet to set a date for a water-restriction decision for its 1.2 million customers. The board could set watering limits at its April 14 or April 28 meetings, or set a special meeting.

Fire Danger

The latest fire danger forecast shows the entire state of Colorado and all of the southwest are under a high fire danger warning. Parts of Arizona and New Mexico already have orange and red areas signifying very high to extreme fire danger.