SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A pattern of wet weather the past three weeks is helping boost Utah’s water supply, but most of the state remains in the clutches of a severe or moderate drought.
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The latest report released by the U.S. Drought Monitor on Thursday said drought conditions are inching west and predicted to persist or worsen in the coming months.
A good sized storm dropped some significant precipitation in southern Utah March 9-11, but otherwise last month was exceptionally dry, said Brian McInerney, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City.
April has been cool enough so far to help delay snowmelt, he said. In the northeastern Uintas and Wasatch Mountains, storms actually delivered more snow.
“We added a lot more snow at a time when we should be melting,” he told The Deseret News (http://tinyurl.com/cp6ymsh ).
The storms reversed a disturbing trend across much of the state.
“April is the month we wish we’d had in January, February and March,” said Randy Julander, supervisor of the Utah Snow Survey program run by U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service. “I-70 north got some really good accumulation.”
Tage Flint, manager of the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District, the chief water supplier for a swath of northern Utah, said that while the cool April has helped somewhat, the water supply going into the fall will depend on the coming weeks.
“We have improved, but we are still not projected to fill our reservoirs this year,” he said. “The cold, damp weather pattern we have had for the last three weeks is what we need to continue if possible.”
Julander said the delay in the snow melt makes it look like some of the basins are near average or above average for snowpack, but he warned those looks are deceiving.
“Here is the bad part. The bottom line is we have gone from worse to bad, and we are a long ways from good,” he said. “This pitched us out of the fire and into the frying pan.”
Larry Lewis, spokesman with the Utah Department of Agriculture, said the wet, cool weather has delayed demand for watering lawns and irrigating farm fields, and that’s a good thing. But he said farmers and ranchers remain concerned.
“The rangelands look to be dry, and ranchers will be sending their cattle up to the higher elevations for summer range,” Lewis said. He said many already are making backup plans in case extended drought limits grazing on public lands.
“Obviously people are concerned about the availability of water,” said Matt Hargreaves, spokesman with the Utah Farm Bureau. “The hope is that this spring stays cooler and wet.”
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Information from: Deseret News, http://www.deseretnews.com
