SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Dec. 16, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — Most of Utah has been downgraded from exceptional to extreme drought after a winter storm hit the state Tuesday night.
Nearly all of the state has been downgraded from exceptional drought; 78.71% remains in extreme drought, said a news release from the Utah Division of Water Resources.
“Early season storms gave a glimmer of hope for the new water year, which started Oct. 1, but a dry November didn’t do much to help our snowpack,” the news release said. With 95% of Utah’s water supply coming from snowpack, the state needs above-average snowstorms to help refill reservoirs.
“This past week the snow water equivalent — or how much water is in the snow — was lower than any time in the past 30 years, but this last storm system brought us closer to average,” said Brian Steed, executive director of the Department of Natural Resources. “We still have a long way to go and need many snowstorms to reach an average, or preferably above-average, snowpack.”
Statewide snow water equivalent, or how much water would be in the snowpack if it melted, is 2.8 inches. This is 74% of median for this time of year and 18% of median peak, which usually occurs around the first of April.
Thirty-nine of Utah’s largest 45 reservoirs are below 55% of available capacity. Overall statewide storage is 50% of capacity. This time last year, reservoirs were about 62% of capacity.
Soil moisture is 7.6% above median for this time of year. “Wet soils are critical as the state begins to accumulate its winter snowpack,” the news release said.
Of the 84 measured streams, 43 are flowing below normal. This number went down because many streams and gauges ice up in the winter, officials said.
