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Animas flows lower than '02 drought
Herald Staff Writer
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Those bare rocks in the Animas River are telling a story.
An early snowmelt and an unimpressive monsoon season left the flow in the Animas last month well below what it was in September 2002 - what is commonly called the drought year or remembered for the Missionary Ridge Fire - but not an all-time September low.
Overall, the 2002 probably marked the historic low flow in the Animas, said Scott Brinton with the state Division of Water Resources in Durango.
Statistics from U.S. Geological Survey show that the daily flow in the Animas last month averaged 194 cubic feet per second while the 2002 average flow was 317 cfs.
A USGS graph shows that the flow in the Animas last month was well below the 97-year average for September of 463 cfs. The 194 cfs of last month compares to a 97-year average that fluctuated from 400 to slightly more than 300 cfs.
Since 2002, the September flow in the Animas has rebounded. In 2003, the Animas carried a daily average flow of 589 cfs. Then from 2004 through 2008, the average daily flow in September was 600, 344, 489, 656 and 343 cfs.
The all-time low flow in the Animas in September apparently was in 1956 when the river carried a daily average of 161 cfs.
Other years when the September flow averaged less than this year were 1974 (174 cfs), 1978 (201 cfs), 1959 (208 cfs) and1953 (211 cfs).
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