As of Monday, April 6, the National Integrated Drought Information Center has announced Snow Water Equivalency in the San Juan Mountains as less than 75% of the median for this time of year, which triggers the Voluntary Drought Stage for Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (PAWSD), according to the adopted Drought Management Plan, which you can download here.
The PAWSD Board of Directors will discuss the drought plan and future steps at their meeting tomorrow, Thursday, April 9 at 5pm at 100 Lyn Avenue. The meeting is open to the public, and public comments are welcome.
Disclosure: The Daily Post editor currently serves as a volunteer Board member for PAWSD.
Hatcher reservoir is currently full, and the San Juan River is flowing at 507 cubic feet per second (CFS). The NOAA National Integrated Drought Information System recently upgraded all of Archuleta County from Severe Drought to Extreme Drought. These conditions place us in the Voluntary Drought Stage. Drought conditions are such that PAWSD is encouraging customers to voluntarily reduce the amount of water they use.
There are no mandatory water use restrictions in place for the time being.
The current Snow Water Equivalency (SWE) is 3.8″, whereas the median SWE on this day is 32.2″. The recent snow in the upper watershed delayed the SWE from dropping to zero, however it is still likely the SWE will drop to zero and the District will go into a higher level drought stage within the next two weeks. This is due to a very light snowpack this season and warmer than normal late winter and spring temperatures.