Snowpack Piles-Up

Well above normal spring runoff expected

PHOENIX, Feb. 5, 2008— Water resources specialists from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and cooperating partners are forecasting well above normal spring runoff in Arizona’s major rivers and streams based on recent snowpack measurements in Arizona’s mountain watersheds.

Statewide, the Feb. 1 snowpack measured 138-percent of the 30-year average, compared with 71-percent a year ago. The Salt River, Verde River, Little Colorado River, and San Francisco-Upper Gila River Basins all have well above normal snow levels for this time of year. The San Francisco Peaks area near Flagstaff is at 204-percent of average as of Feb. 1.

Several major snowstorms during January added to an already above-normal snowpack throughout the mountains of northern and eastern Arizona. NRCS water resources specialist Dino DeSimone said that as a result of these conditions, the forecast calls for normal to well above normal streamflows in all basins during the spring snowmelt season. “The snowpack and precipitation totals continue to improve, despite all the previous predictions that this was going to be a dry winter,” said DeSimone.

As of Feb. 1, the combined Salt River Project (SRP) system is at 82-percent of capacity with 1,897,883 acre-feet in storage. The SRP system covers the Verde and Salt River watersheds and includes six reservoirs; Horseshoe and Bartlett, both on the Verde River, and Roosevelt, Apache, Canyon, and Saguaro, all on the Salt River. At San Carlos, reservoir storage stands at 282,100 acre-feet, or about 36 percent of capacity.

NRCS takes snow measurements throughout the winter to forecast and track the state’s surface water supplies for the coming year. As a result of these snow measurements, an Arizona Basin Outlook Report is developed and issued every two weeks beginning January 1 through April 1. The report is used by farmers, ranchers, municipal water suppliers, and other water users to help manage limited water supplies.

The snow survey season began January 1, when the NRCS, U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, and the Navajo Nation began manual measurements of snow depth and snow water content at 38 measurement sites across northern and eastern Arizona.

The same locations are measured each year, and some locations have been monitored for more than 50 years. The NRCS and its cooperative snow surveyors have been measuring snowpack and estimating spring runoff in Arizona since 1935.

FEBRUARY 1, 2008 ARIZONA SNOWPACK LEVELS

Percent (%) of 30-Yr. Average
Snowpack Levels as of January 15
Watershed
------------------------------------ ----------
Salt River Basin 133%
Verde River Basin 151%
Little Colorado River Basin 125%
San Francisco-Upper Gila River Basin 138%

Other Points of Interest
------------------------------------ -------
Chuska Mountains 123%
Central Mogollon Rim 122%
Grand Canyon 105%
San Francisco Peaks 204%
Statewide Snowpack 138%


FEBRUARY 1, 2008 RUNOFF FORECAST

Percent (%) of median streamflow
Location January-May
------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------
Salt River (near Roosevelt) 172%
Verde River (at Horseshoe Dam) 180%
Gila River (at San Carlos) 161%
Little Colorado River (above Lyman Lake) 170%

The NRCS Arizona Basin Outlook Report and other related reports are available on the Internet at http://www.az.nrcs.usda.gov/snow. For more information, call NRCS Water Resources Specialist, Dino DeSimone, at 602-280-8786.

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