Utah’s snowpack this winter brought welcome news to the state. Around April 1 and 2, it peaked at 130% of normal, according to Jordan Clayton, supervisor of the Utah Snow Survey, for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
“The good news and the benefit of our good winter was spread nicely throughout the state. Of course there were still some areas of the state that did better than others. I would say that the Weber/Ogden watershed in particular has been one of the big benefactors of all the storms and the moisture that we’ve received, ” Clayton said.
It’s also good news for Great Salt Lake. Clayton said its water level is continuing to creep up. At the marina yesterday, it measured at 4,195 foot elevation.
“Which is right around what we had predicted last month, in terms of how we think it’s going to get at its peak. So if it continues to rise we will very slightly be exceeding our expectations. If it rises quite a bit more then all the better," said Clayton.
He added that since last year the lake has come up about 3 feet.
“And that’s excellent and there is a lot of reason to celebrate that increase in the lake’s stage.”
However, it still has about 3 feet to go to reach what the Utah Division of Natural Resources considers its healthy range.
To learn how lake elevation is currently impacting its resources, Clayton recommends the U.S. Geological Survey Great Salt Lake Hydro mapper.
“For example, recreation has an optimal range of lake levels and ecology has an optimal range and resource extraction has an optimal range. There is never a perfect sweet spot for all of those things but if we get to about 4198, according to the DNR and that graphic, I think we will be back where we really want to be."
To also learn more about flood risks across the state, Clayton said the Colorado River Basin Forecast Center website has interactive tools where you can check when stream flows are expected to peak and in particular how the peaks are going to be relative to flood stage.
The Utah Snow Survey Program also recently launched the webpage called How is your favorite Utah basin doing, where you can check forecasts, data and conditions for Utah’s water supply, snowpack, stream flows and more.
“Here you have all the resources at your fingertips in one spot,” said Clayton.
