Spring runoff in the Animas River appears to have peaked earlier this week, although the water flow continues to be strong, a Durango hydrologist said Thursday.
The highest flow reported on the Animas River this spring was 5,080 cubic feet per second, from 6:30-7:15 a.m. Monday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
“For the spring runoff, that would probably be the peak unless it gets super hot in the next few days,” said Dave Grey, a USGS hydrologic technician in Durango.
On Thursday, the Animas River flow was recorded at 4,560 cfs.
Summer monsoons can boost the river past peak spring flows, Grey said.
“All we need is one good rainstorm,” he said.
Meanwhile, snowpack in the watershed emptied by the Animas, San Juan, Dolores and San Miguel rivers is fading fast, the last report of the year by the Natural Resources Conservation Service shows.
The only basin with less snowpack than the four-river watershed as of June 1 was the Upper Rio Grande.
“The southern river basins are very close to being snow-free,” the report says.
The snowpack in the combined Animas, San Juan, Dolores and San Miguel basins stood at 59 percent of the 30-year median for June 1, the report says. The Upper Rio Grande was at 39 percent of the median.
Overall, the state’s snowpack was at 197 percent of the median for the date. Some basins look good. The South Platte basin stood at 311 percent; the Colorado basin at 223 percent; and the North Platte basin at 193 percent.
“The snowpack in the remaining basins is becoming surface runoff very quickly, as well,” the report says. “But with large amounts of snow accumulated this winter in basins such as the Colorado, the Yampa, North Platte and South Platte, 20 to 40 percent of the total snowpack remains in the higher elevations.”
If wet weather continues this month, the chances for continued high stream levels in the northern basins are quite good, the report said.
Reservoir storage statewide as of Sunday was 95 percent of average, compared to 75 percent of average last year.
Reservoirs in the combined Animas, San Juan, Dolores and San Miguel basins was 89 percent of average, up from 64 percent on the same date last year.
The reservoirs in the northern basins, particularly the Yampa, South Platte and Gunnison, topped 100 percent of average – the Yampa at 114 percent, the South Platte at 113 percent and the Gunnison at 109 percent.
daler@durangoherald.com
