Snowpack

The USU Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water, and Air recently released their 2024 report to the Utah governor and legislature.

In a presentation to the Legislative Water Development Commission on Tuesday, Utah Division of Water Resources Director Candice Hasenyager said our snowpack remains strong even with hotter temperatures forecast.

Colorado's Rocky Mountains have reached peak snowpack, but climate change is changing the way snow turns to water. States around the region are debating new rules for the river that center around new water deficits.

Snowpack near Logan hit a peak of 27 inches the first week of April, due to warm spring temperatures, almost half has already melted.

Researchers have been measuring the snow water equivalent at the Tony Grove Ranger Station Snow Course for 100 years. That data helps them predict Utah's water supply.

In other news, Utah's snowpack sets an "optimistic tone" for water conditions. And, raising the causeway berm at Great Salt Lake improves salinity levels.

Instead of looking at El Nino or La Nina, climatologists in Utah look at the Quasi Decadal Oscillation, which usually controls Northern Utah’s snowpack.

Scott Hotaling joins us this week to talk about the record snowfall we've had this year and what it means for Utah.

Rivers and creeks all over the state have been running high with melted snow from the biggest snowpack ever recorded in Utah. 1983 was last time we had anything near this amount of snowmelt fueling our spring runoff. This year, with a historic snowpack, it seems like we should be experiencing more 100-year floods or even 500-year floods.

We still need to figure out better long term water solutions. And those discussions tend to happen with more urgency when water is scarce.