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SALT LAKE CITY -- Over the past year, we saw soaking storms that seemed like they would never end and extremely dry periods. When you average it all out, Utah measured up with average precipitation for the water year.
Here in Utah, we measure our water year starting October 1st; that's roughly the beginning of the snow season. A good storm Wednesday ended the 2009 water year, which ranks as the fourth best in the last 10 years.
The new water year started with a dusting of snow on the high peaks of the Wasatch Front. That may be a good sign for the winter ahead, and water managers would certainly like to see another water year just like the one that just ended.
Todd Adams, with the Utah Division of Water Resources, said, "It was about a normal water year, but you know how you get to normal: one foot on ice, and one foot in the fire."
And that's pretty typical for Utah weather: short periods of extreme wetness followed by weeks of no rain or snow.
"In June we had about 300 percent of normal precipitation, over 300 percent normal," said Adams. "The rest of the summer was about average. It got a little dry towards the end, and that's what makes an average."
For the first half of this decade, drought devastated Utah. The last five years have not been nearly as bad.
Utah's statewide total precipitation for the 2009 water years falls just short of the 30 year average. But when you compare the 2009 total with the 10 year average, it's significantly higher. It's good news for our water demands in the second driest state in the nation.
Most of Utah's reservoirs are up, while Bear Lake and Lake Powell are continuing to slowly creep up to recover their pre-drought levels.
"They've ended the season quite a bit higher than they have been in the last several years. Only Mother Nature knows what it's going to do in the next several months," Adams said.
Regardless of the positive numbers, conservation is still critical for all of our communities. The more water we can save every day, the more we have in storage for times of drought.
E-mail: jboal@ksl.com
