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SALT LAKE CITY — Fickle weather in October left southern Utah saturated with above average precipitation, but the water year for the northern and central portions of the state delivered a wimpy performance for the month.
The Utah Climate and Water Report issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service shows that the contradictory conditions leave Utah sitting at below average for precipitation at 78 percent.
Precipitation pounded the southern half of the state, with southwestern Utah getting 124 percent of average rainfall, the Escalante River Basin racking up 167 percent of average, and the Upper Sevier River region clocking in at 135 percent of average.
In contrast, northern Utah was left wanting: Bear River Basin at 62 percent, Weber Basin at 52 percent, and the Provo River, Jordan River and Utah Lake region at 58 percent.
With the Climate Prediction Center's precipitation forecast calling for an El Nino pattern, the Utah-based report surmises that southern Utah could keep up the wet pattern into February, while it is anyone's guess what happens in the northern half of the state.
"One month does not a whole water supply make, so we are going to have to reserve our judgment until we get into spring and see what kind of snowpack and anticipated runoff we have," said Todd Stonely, river basin manager for the Utah Division of Water Resources. "Still we need to be vigilant. If anyone is still watering out there, they should be reprimanded. We need to save our water in our reservoirs."
Reservoir storage in most areas have been propped up by the ample rainstorms in May and July, with most of the state's reservoirs sitting at just over half full. Most of the state's reservoirs are constructed to hold a two-year supply of storage, so in some areas water managers are beginning to grow anxious over how winter plays out in the months ahead.
In the Bear River Basin, reservoir storage sits at just 37 percent of capacity, while Weber Basin reservoirs are hovering at 39 percent full.
"Our reservoirs are lower than they were at this time last year," said Mark Anderson, the assistant general manager and chief technical officer for the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District. "We have a bigger hole to make up this year, and that is a concern for us."
Anderson added that the system has stopped all releases from dams for irrigation purposes, but legally required flows for fish populations and municipal supplies will still occur and likely bring reservoir levels down some more.
"It is a wait-and-see game at this point," he said. "In the absence of signficant moisture, we could continue to see those reservoirs drop … but we are hopeful the winter will be productive."
The latest information provided by the U.S. Drought Monitor shows that the areas of Utah classified as being in "severe drought" have doubled from this time last year, impacting mostly the extreme western side of the state in Tooele and Juab counties, and central portions that include southern Utah County and most of Sanpete County. Just over 26 percent of the state's land mass is in that category, while more than half is classified as in a moderate drought.
The Utah climate report notes that soil moisture content in the state is not nearly as good as last year at this time, but recent storms should be helping to boost that.
