Zero Inches
2026
Zero inches, that’s the official depth of the snowpack on most of the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains right now.
Scientists who monitor the National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center have seen the last of this past winter’s snow melt away.
It’s the middle of June, so this isn’t terribly unusual. By now, the snowpack is pretty much melted. The party is over. There’s little or no runoff into the Colorado River.
The runoff never amounted to much this spring and a thirsty river was hung out to dry.
The Colorado River gets about 80% of its water from this snowmelt. A lame snowmelt lowers river levels, slows down the flow and sends less water into Lake Powell and Lake Mead, the west’s critical reservoirs.
What happened?
Fewer winter storms dumped a lot less snow on the Rockies’ western slopes. It was historically dry, with 30% to 60% less snow.
Looking back to late March, the snowpack’s water content for the Upper Colorado River Basin was less than 25% of what’s normal, based on a 30-year average.
The numbers underscore the severity of the situation. Sadly, the people we entrust to address Colorado River water allocations have shown themselves to be better at squabbling than compromising.
Bureaucrats bicker and cite old agreements ill-suited for a new era of extreme drought.
We face a worsening water supply problem, a problem that remains unresolved, and while we don’t care to be alarmists, we can’t help but wonder…
What comes next?
