Snowpack 'fabulous' so far

Kevin Lusk, principal engineer for Colorado Springs Utilities, is upbeat about the city's water supply next summer, after a series of recent storms that have blanketed the high country in snow.

"I'm pretty heartened by it, personally," he said. "We're still only about halfway through the season, so there's always that little caveat that it could go anywhere from here. But so far, it's fabulous."

It hasn't always been so fabulous for Lusk -- or for Colorado Springs residents, who haven't heard cheery news about water for years. A drought that hit the Pikes Peak region in 2001 drastically cut snow and rainfall amounts, lowered reservoir levels and led to outdoor watering restrictions.

Things began to ease this summer, with increased rains and lower temperatures. Now, with the latest snowfalls and a forecast for a wet spring, Lusk cautiously says Colorado may have "turned the corner" on the drought.

The National Resources Conservation Service reported Wednesday that snowpack in all of Colorado's river basins are at or above average, with huge increases in snowfall in particularly drought- strick- en areas in the southwestern part of the state.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which has monitored the drought, is forecasting an end to drought conditions in the eastern two-thirds of Colorado and an easing of the drought in the western part of the state.

The news is good in other parts of the West, too.

The Boulder-based NOAA reports that significant snowfalls since October have eased drought conditions from the Sierra Nevada to the southern Rockies, with only the Northwest continuing to feel the effects of drought.

Lusk said the city-owned utility won't begin to make its own snow surveys until later this month, but statistics from the National Resources Conservation Service show snowpack above average around Twin Lakes and the Blue River areas and just slightly below normal near the Homestake area, three of the most important sources of water for the city.

Abundant runoff could allow the city to take water longer into the summer than it has in the past few years, he said. During the drought, the city has been limited in the amount it can divert because holders of senior water rights have demanded their full share first.

The apparent break in the drought couldn't have come at a better time, with the city's system of reservoirs at just 56 percent of capacity. Normally at this time of year, they are 74 percent full.

Lusk said that figure is a little deceiving. Since spring, the utility has been able to begin refilling many of its drought- depleted reservoirs, including those on the south slope of Pikes Peak, by executing water trades and through conservation.

Only two reservoirs remain in bad shape, Lusk said. The city's share of Fryingpansas River Project water in Pueblo Reservoir is severely depleted. The same is true for Lake Meredith, near Ordway. The city is considering leasing agricultural water this spring to refill Meredith, but it is prevented by federal regulations from doing the same with Pueblo Reservoir.

In all, though, Lusk said, 2005 is shaping up to be the kind of year water suppliers -- and their customers -- have been longing for.

"Right now, we're sitting really good," he said. "We're pleased."

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