Water Supply Update

Low snowpack at the Trial Lake Snow gauging station forebodes poor water run-off into Deer Creek Reservoir

April 2, 2001

Hydrograph showing water content in Trial Lake SNOTEL gauging station. The red line denotes 2001 data compared to last year (green) and normal (blue).

As of April 1, 2001 the mountain snowpack has not improved sufficiently to soothe water supply concerns.  The normally wet month did not produce the precipitation hoped for by water managers along the Wasatch Front. Overall the Provo River - Utah Lake - Jordan River drainage is 55 percent of normal according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service. The Trial Lake snow gauging station shows that water content in the snowpack is nearly one-half the normal for this date. Normally on April 1, the maximum snowpack contains an average of 25 inches of water. This year the number is only 14.3 inches, which is 57 percent of normal.  Likewise the snowpack is below normal in the Wasatch Canyons east of Salt Lake City. Parleys Summit is 44 percent, Brighton 59 percent and Snowbird 73 percent of normal.

According to Provo River Water Users Association (PRWUA) superintendent G. Keith Denos, Trial Lake located at an elevation of nearly 10,000 feet, "is the best indicator of how much water will flow into Deer Creek Reservoir on the Provo River."  It is near the convergence of the three watersheds that captures the water supplies that are diverted into Deer Creek Reservoir. Normally one hundred thousand acre-feet of water is diverted from the Weber, Duchesne and Provo Rivers.

On February 17, 2001 Denos notified PRWUA stockholders that there would only be a 60 percent allotment of water in Deer Creek Reservoir this water year. He only expects about 43,000 acre-feet of run-off water from the Weber, Duchesne and Provo Rivers into Deer Creek Reservoir. This was extremely bad news to municipal water managers within Salt Lake County who rely on stored water in Deer Creek Reservoir to meet their water supply needs during the summer months. Especially impacted is the Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake & Sandy (MWDSLS), which wholesales its share in Deer Creek Reservoir to Salt Lake City, Sandy City and surplus water to the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District ((JVWCD) -- affecting practically everyone living within Salt Lake County.  Likewise affected are the water irrigation stockholders within Utah County who face an uncertain crop this year.

On March 21, 2001 water managers from along the Wasatch Front met to compare notes and report on the water supply projections within the Bear River, Weber and Utah Lake - Jordan River basins. All were below normal. Northern Utah, like its northern neighbors in Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon, Washington and Montana, has received less winter precipitation than the southern states. The winter storms have gone south this year, leaving the north drier than normal. 

The weather pattern may cause more than water supply problems, it may exasperate California's electrical energy woes. Low water supplies will almost surely reduce the production of hydroelectric power generation.  On March 22, Oregon Governor Kitzhaber is reported as reactivating the Drought Council to deal with the state's 50 percent of normal snowpack. 

Salt Lake County water managers met with Don A. Christiansen, General Manager of the Central Utah Water Conservancy District (CUWCD) and Ron Johnston, Department of the Interior to bolster their municipal water supplies. At the March 21 meeting Christiansen announced CUWCD would make 17,000 acre-feet of water available to MWDSLS and JVWCD on a one-time surplus basis. Earlier Christiansen was asked to accelerate MWDSLS's 20,000 acre-foot petition but denied the request

The Provo River near Woodland, Utah is a major source of water for Utah and Salt Lake County residents.

because of limitations placed on water transfers from Strawberry Reservoir to the Wasatch Front.  Construction in Diamond Fork limits the transfer to 30,000 acre-feet annually until 2004. MWDSLC will begin receiving its petitioned water in 2005 in 4,000 acre-foot increments over a 5-year period. Christiansen stressed conservation this year and continued into the future.

Wasatch Front water managers plan on water conservation programs this year. According to Ivan Flint, General Manager of the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District, prohibiting watering from 10 am to 6 p.m. is effective in reducing water consumption by 20 percent. Salt Lake City has already announced that it will adopt this conservation measure as part of a comprehensive water conservation program to be announced during April.  In the past it has been recommended not to water during the heat of the day when much of the water will be lost to evaporation. But it may be prohibited this year. Dr. Earl Jackson, Utah State Extension Services strongly agrees, "I fully support this conservation measure, especially during the months of July and August."  

A wet and cool spring could still have an effect on the summer water supply. In 1977, poor winter snowpack yielded to a wet spring and summer curtailing summer water demand, and tempering water shortages. On April 9, water managers and snow watchers will again meet to assess the situation.