Sunday’s top of the scroll: Meager monsoon worsens Arizona’s drought while upstream, the Colorado River drops to a record-low flow

From the Arizona Republic:

“Rain and snow have ended droughts across much of the United States this year, but in Arizona, conditions have worsened, further extending a dry streak that reaches back to 1996.

A weak monsoon season, bookended by meager rain in the months before and after, turned the rangelands brittle and allowed the summer wildfire season to linger through autumn. Dwindling water resources forced ranchers to sell livestock and drained watering holes that sustain wildlife.

In the high country, the soil is so parched it will likely soak up some of the spring snowmelt before the water can flow into rivers and reservoirs, blunting in part the effects of El Niño, a shift in ocean temperatures that can produce wetter winters in Arizona.

Enough water is stored from past years to protect Phoenix from shortages no matter what happens this winter, but the rest of the state faces a bleaker outlook that could include conservation measures or even water hauling in some places if weather patterns
don’t change. … “

Read more from the Arizona Republic by clicking here.

Colorado is also feeling the dry, as part of the river flowing through Summit County experienced record-low flow levels, according to the Summit Daily News:

“SUMMIT COUNTY — The latest predictions for a mid-winter dry spell may cause some headaches for Colorado water managers as they try to juggle supplies to maintain stream flows and fill reservoirs.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is forecasting that a strong El Niño may lead to dry conditions in the state’s northern and central mountains at least until March, based on historic patterns associated with above-normal sea surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific.

Stream flows in Summit County are not too far off seasonal norms, but the Colorado River at Kremmling recently experienced an all-time record low flow for that date, according to local water commissioner Scott Hummer.

The Colorado was only flowing at 280 cubic feet per second on Nov. 16, and flows farther downstream were also well below average, Hummer said. The previous minimum for the date was 330 cfs in 1978.

“I can’t find a rhyme or reason as to why we’re starting to see these low flows so early in the season,” Hummer said. … “

Read more from the Summit Daily News by clicking here.

Photo of Arizona desert watchtower by flickr photographer dkabanek (Creative Commons).

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