COLORADO SPRINGS – Traffic trouble, shoveling walks and cancellations are some of the short term impacts of winter storms. Then there is the long term tracking for what it means to snowpack and Colorado’s water outlook. “It’s a lot of work by my team, a lot of work utilities wide to make sure that we’re planning year round for what’s coming up,” said Colorado Springs Utilities, Water Planning Supervisor, Kalsoum Abbasi.
The water watchers at Colorado Springs Utilities say, so far this year snowpack totals are at average. In the southeast region of the state the numbers are above normal and the best in the state. Reservoirs are just below 75% of capacity which is right where they are supposed to be this time of year.
It is all good, but they also say early numbers are less important than what happens from February to May. “An individual storm usually doesn’t make or break snowpack and if you get a good run of a series of storms then you start to see that snowpack accumulate in the mountains and it is what we like to see,” said Abbasi.
Water planners with Colorado Springs Utilities do want to see a lot more snow in the months ahead. “Because it was so dry last year the soil moisture profile is pretty low,” said Abbasi. The dry ground will absorb more water, so less runs off to where it can be stored in reservoirs.
