State water watchers hopeful for more snow, rain in southern Utah

SALT LAKE CITY — Officials are hoping for more snow as we inch closer to the typical start of spring weather in Utah. According to the Division of Water Resources, the snowpack is at a record low in some parts of the state. "Statewide, the average is at about 85%, but that doesn't really tell us much because we have basins that are as high as 103% and some basins that are as low as 27%," said Laura Haskell, drought coordinator. State water officials and skiers alike are crossing their fingers this multi-day storm delivers. "We want to get as much water as we can," Haskell said. March is a pivotal month for snow. Haskell said typically after April 1, the snowpack starts to melt. "If we can stay where we're at in the north and bring up any other parts of the state, that'd be great," she said. She said despite the unusually warm temperatures we've had up north, this winter has delivered. "It's really down south that it's gets such a bad situation that people really need to pay attention," Haskell said. The division's latest "snowmoji" map shows just how low some of southern Utah's basins are. "The storms this year have really done better in the northern part of the state than the southern part, and even some of the central part has missed out on a lot of those storms," Haskell said. "But the southern part in particular has just really not had a lot of storms. And our snowpack is actually record low." Haskell said fortunately, we have full reservoirs we can rely on. The last two winters helped fill them up. "That reserved water, we just want to make it last as long as we need because we don't know what's going to come next," she said. That also means we may have to be conservative with water in the months to come. "I think you're going to want to pay attention to your local water provider, because the situation does vary so much," Haskell said. "Some might limit outdoor watering, some may have different requirements that they're asking you to do so that they can preserve that water that they need. " Haskell has some predictions for spring runoff. She said based on current numbers, it looks like it may be below average. Soil moisture is one of the factors that can determine what runoff looks like. "In the fall, we really pay attention to the soil moisture, because then we get a freeze and it sort of locks in for the winter," Haskell said. "Our soil moisture was a little bit low this fall. When the snow melts, it goes in and replenishes that soil moisture before it runs off into our streams and reservoirs." She said the situation can change, depending on how much water we get this month.

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