The Alamosa Citizen and the Pagosa Springs Sun report that October rain events have led to a bountiful finish to the water year in parts of southern Colorado.
The water year ends Nov. 1, but high flows on the Rio Grande are causing farmers to consider irrigating into November. This is a reversal of conditions — in August, the Rio Grande ran at 180 cubic feet per second (cfs) in Del Norte, but after October rains, the river hit 7,180 cfs at Del Norte.
Meanwhile, in southwestern Colorado, last week’s tropical storms Priscilla and Raymond brought high river levels and flood damage to the San Juan River and surrounding communities — flows peaked at 8,560 cfs on the San Juan at Pagosa Springs and early assessments estimate damage at around $9 million. Those flows are now translating to boosted reservoir levels, with Navajo Lake Reservoir rising by some 12 feet after the storms.
Print