Source link : https://las-vegas-news.com/colorado-river-snowpack-takes-main-dive-streamflow-projections-lowered/

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A late-season rollercoaster trip this 12 months was a steep decline for snowpack ranges that feed the Colorado River.

Since April 9, when snowstorms pushed snowpack from 91% to simply over 100% in a single day, circumstances have modified dramatically and ranges have fallen to 70% of regular as of Friday, April 18. That is regarding for 40 million individuals who depend on the river for water.

The black line within the graph under exhibits this 12 months’s snowpack ranges, or extra technically, snow water equal (SWE) ranges, within the Higher Colorado River Basin.

Projections from the federal authorities have been adjusted, displaying much less water flowing into Lake Powell, the nation’s second-largest reservoir. Streamflow at Lake Powell is now anticipated to be about two-thirds of regular this 12 months (67%). Simply two weeks in the past, projections confirmed it could be about three-fourths of regular (74%).

The one-day flirtation with regular snowpack ranges is a distant reminiscence now.

And all of that’s occurring earlier than water will get so far as Lake Mead — the nation’s largest reservoir, the place Southern Nevada will get 90% of its water.

APRIL 4 REPORT: Snowpack at 90% of regular as ‘lean’ 12 months projected for Southern Nevada

“This has been another — unfortunately — classic year of the impact of climate change where high up in the Rocky Mountains in the headwaters of the Colorado River, you have slightly…

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Author : LasVegasNews

Publish date : 2025-04-19 02:33:00

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