SALT LAKE CITY — An agency measuring snowpack and water levels across the state says we're either above or well below average — depending on where you look.
"It’s not been one of our better years," said Jordan Clayton from the Utah Snow Survey and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service. "Statewide, we’re at about 85 percent of normal. Our organization measures the snowpack throughout the state of Utah and really throughout the West, making water predictions from that snowpack."
He provided a map with the percent of average each region is right now. In the north it looks good, but in the southwestern part of the state, they're seeing critically low levels.
"The Bear River Basin, for example, is above normal for this time of year, whereas southwestern Utah is setting records for how low its snowpack is for this time. The Gunnison area and the Sanpitch, which drains into that area, is about 79 percent of normal snowpack," Clayton said.
Zach Jensen, the president of the Gunnison Irrigation Company, told FOX 13 News that the Gunnison Reservoir right now is at about a third of its capacity. He says they're hoping for more precipitation in the next several weeks and a few good storms and what he called "low snow" to help fill the gap, but said overall they're in pretty good shape thanks to two good water years back-to-back and about 25 percent of the water in storage.
"The Gunnison Reservoir sent us unfortunate pictures of cattle grazing the bottom of the reservoir when it was dry. We’re very encouraged by the replenishment of water into that reservoir system," Clayton added.
FOX 13 News was there with SkyFox looking at the barren reservoir from above when the Gunnison Reservoir ran dry after a very dry year.
"We’re actually further along in filling up our reservoir system than other western states, and the reason why is we’re on the heels of two above normal snowpack years in a row, and that's really boosted the reservoir system in the state," said Clayton.
Utah gets 95 percent of its water — used for municipal and agricultural purposes — from its snowpack.
"Overall we’re about 75 percent of the way to our typical peak snow water equivalent, or our peak snowpack, and we have about a month to go, so let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope we get all the way there," Clayton said.
