Copyright 2006 Denver Publishing Company
By JERD SMITH
Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)
A stormy spring may deliver at least one major snowstorm on the Front Range, but likely will do little to alleviate a dangerous fire season in May, according to a forecast presented to the state’s flood and drought task force Tuesday.
“On the northeastern Plains, we should get one very strong spring blizzard,” said meteorologist John Henz, of HDR Engineering. “But look for a nasty return of the fire season along the Front Range in May.”
Nearly half the state, including the urban corridor and the southern mountains, is at higher-than-normal risk for wildfires this year because of dry winter weather.
Statewide snowpacks — a critical indicator of annual water supplies — are registering at 97 percent of average, the Natural Resources Conservation Service said.
But mountain regions north of I-70 have received strong snows throughout the winter, delivering relief from a lingering drought. Snowpacks are so high in Summit and Eagle counties — about 130 percent of average - that state and local water managers are watching for floods.
Summit County’s Dillon Reservoir, owned by Denver Water, is so full now, even before spring runoff begins, that Denver may begin releasing water next month to provide more room to store high flows when the snowpack begins melting, said Bob Steger, a water-resource engineer at the giant water utility. The reservoir is 90 percent full.
It will be the first time since 1997 that the agency has had to conduct controlled releases to manage potential flooding.
“But we’re going to wait until next month before we make that decision,” Steger told the task force.
At the same time, ultra-dry weather in the southern and southwestern parts of the state, as well as on the Plains, continues to raise alarms.
“Though the snow season is not over, we don’t see a great likelihood of tremendous (snow) accumulation in those parts of the state,” said Jack Byers, deputy director of the Colorado Division of Water Resources. “From a fire and water supply situation, that concerns us.”