{"id":22385,"date":"2025-05-06T18:59:40","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T18:59:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/southwestern-colorado-farmers-expect-a-third-of-their-normal-water-supply\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T04:13:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:13:00","slug":"southwestern-colorado-farmers-expect-a-third-of-their-normal-water-supply","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/southwestern-colorado-farmers-expect-a-third-of-their-normal-water-supply\/","title":{"rendered":"Southwestern Colorado farmers expect a third of their normal water supply"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ken Curtis, a water manager in southwestern Colorado, had two words to describe his district\u2019s expected water supply this summer: \u201cPretty bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c (We\u2019re) looking at about 30%, maybe 35% supply,\u201d said Curtis, who manages the Dolores Water Conservancy District.<\/p>\n

Water managers across Colorado and the West are looking at this winter\u2019s snowfall and weather forecasts to plan for summer water supplies, whether it\u2019s using water for gardens, lawns, fisheries, crops or livestock. The conditions vary widely at the local level. In some parts of Colorado, like Denver, the winter provided enough snow to fill reservoirs and avoid extra restrictions. Other regions are tightening their belts.<\/p>\n

Curtis hoped to at least give water users in his district half their normal supply for the season, he said. The district sends irrigation water to farmers, the Ute Mountain Ute Indian Tribe, a nearby fishery and communities like Cortez and Dove Creek.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not going to happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Across Colorado, the snowpack peaked lower in major river basins than the 30-year median, according to federal data from 1991 to 2020. The peaks were often earlier than usual, and the snowpack is melting quickly \u2013 several weeks earlier than the norm in some areas.<\/p>\n

Water managers and climatologists are hoping for a rainy May and active summer thunderstorm season. In dry years, farmers and ranchers can be short on irrigation water in late summer. Reservoirs can have less extra water to carry over into the next year. Fish and aquatic ecosystems can suffer with less water in warmer rivers.<\/p>\n

Water managers across the desert Southwest are in similar situations. Western Colorado is a key water source for the Colorado River Basin, where rivers and streams send water into an immense reservoir, Lake Powell.<\/p>\n

This year, the forecast flow of water into Lake Powell has dropped repeatedly, which has many water managers on edge. The Colorado River Basin provides water to 40 million people and the farms that grow most of the country\u2019s winter vegetables.<\/p>\n

In January, staff at the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center calculated about 5.5 million acre-feet of water would flow into Powell. One acre-foot roughly equals the annual water use of two to three households.<\/p>\n

As of Monday, the forecast center expected 3.5 million acre-feet of water to reach the reservoir. That\u2019s 55% of the annual average from 1991 to 2020, said Paul Miller, a meteorologist for the center.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s highly unlikely that we\u2019re going to see anything close to approaching average this year,\u201d Miller said. \u201cWe have had very wet Mays in the past, but some of the longer-term climate models don\u2019t indicate that we\u2019re in store for anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"McPhee
McPhee Reservoir and Dam, shown in 2014.<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Cuts in the Southwest<\/div>\n

In southwestern Colorado, Dolores Water Conservancy District draws water from the mountain snowmelt that flows westward into the Colorado River Basin each spring.<\/p>\n

The region\u2019s rivers and streams are likely to be lower than usual between now and July, when rivers typically swell to their peaks, according to Peter Goble, a climatologist for the Colorado Climate Center at Colorado State University.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeyond Durango and the southern half the San Juans in general, it really doesn\u2019t matter what indicator you look at, the news is not great this year,\u201d Goble said.<\/p>\n

The water district will likely face a financial blow to the tune of $250,000 because of the lackluster winter, Curtis said.<\/p>\n

Water users pay the district to maintain and operate the federal water project, which includes McPhee Reservoir and the system of pipes and water valves that delivers water. They pay based, in part, on the amount of water they use, Curtis said.<\/p>\n

The district cut costs in similar water-short years, like 2021 and 2022, by delaying maintenance projects. This year, they have to take care of the deferred maintenance. The only other areas to cut are expenses like vehicle maintenance and labor costs, Curtis said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still deciding on how much we can cut,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Dolores
Dolores Water Conservation District engineer Ken Curtis introduces speakers at the lake-use discussion in 2017 at Destination Grill. (Journal file photo)<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Business as usual on the Front Range<\/div>\n

While Curtis is working with a slim supply, big Front Range water managers are planning for the norm.<\/p>\n

The snowpack was much closer to normal in the headwaters of the Colorado River itself. This region \u2013 near Fraser and Grand Lake \u2013 is also where tunnels divert water from the Colorado River Basin and send it east to faucets, treatment plants and irrigation systems for millions of Front Range residents.<\/p>\n

Northeastern Colorado cities, farms and other water users are set to get 70% of their usual water supply from the Colorado River Basin, according to the Northern Water Conservancy District.<\/p>\n

Denver Water is planning to rely on its water from the Western Slope this year, Nathan Elder, water resource engineer with Denver Water, said.<\/p>\n

One of Denver Water\u2019s other primary water sources, the South Platte River, had a smaller than usual snowpack that started melting April 6, three weeks early, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur water conditions, they\u2019re OK,\u201d Elder said. \u201cThey\u2019re not great, but they\u2019re not terribly bad either.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the snowpack melts early, water providers often have to dip into the utility\u2019s storage reservoirs early, Elder said. That can impact how much leftover water the utility has for the next summer.<\/p>\n

This year, the reservoirs are starting the summer in good shape, he said. The utility is heading into the peak water use season with 3% extra water, and Elder expects to fill the reservoirs as much as possible this season.<\/p>\n

That means no water-use restrictions in the forecast for Denver Water customers this summer. Watering rules started Thursday, so customers should check their sprinkler schedules and avoid watering between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., Elder said.<\/p>\n

Summer conditions aren\u2019t final yet. Water providers are keeping their eyes on the skies as the seasons change.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo we see those monsoons later this summer? Is it going to be really hot and really dry?\u201d Elder asked. \u201cWe plan for all those scenarios and prepare for all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

managers and farmers in the Colorado River Basin are forecasting a slow year after lackluster snow \u2013 and hoping for a rainy spring <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22386,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[281,28,280,60,29,295],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-22385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-agriculture","tag-headlines","tag-mcphee-reservoir","tag-montezuma-county","tag-newsletter","tag-water"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22385"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77687,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22385\/revisions\/77687"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22385"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=22385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}