April 2022 Newsletter

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

By Rodney Banks

As we welcome spring this year, the drought seems to be tightening it’s hold with each passing day. Many of us are preparing for the beginning of a new irrigation season which in some parts of the state has been delayed due to the lack of precipitation and persistent drought conditions. The current situation we find ourselves in reminds me of Aesop’s fable of the Crow and the Pitcher.

A crow, ready to die with thirst, flew with joy to a pitcher, which he saw at a distance. But when he came up to it, he found the water so low that with all his stooping and straining he was unable to reach it. So, he tried to break the pitcher, then to overturn it, but his strength was not sufficient to do either. At last, seeing some small pebbles at hand, he dropped a great many of them, one by one, into the pitcher, and so raised the water to the brim and quenched his thirst.

I am not suggesting that we need to fill our reservoirs with pebbles to raise their levels so that we might have a drink. To me the message of the gable is that what we can not accomplish by strength, we may be able to accomplish by ingenuity and industry. Many of our systems were built by those who had a vision of the future and wanted to provide a better life for those who would come after them. Let us do the same as we look for solutions to the problems we face.

Thank you all again for your tremendous efforts every day. We are all hoping for more precipitation and cooler weather as we go forward over the next several months.

WATER OUTLOOK

BY Jordan Clayton (NRCS)

“This year’s snowmelt started rapidly and began early. As of March 23rd, statewide snow water equivalent (SWE) was at 88% of normal, but only 5 days later had dropped to 75% due to unseasonably warm temperatures. While the melt rate slowed in the last few days of March due to storms, snowpack across the state is ripe across all elevations and at most of our SNOTEL sites. Utah’s snowpack will respond quickly to warm temperatures from here forward. As a result of the early melt, this year’s statewide SWE has dipped below last year’s value for the end of March. The early melt leads to a potential host of issues, including a lower runoff response (if snowmelt is spread out over a longer period) and a potentially longer summer dry period which could (a) increase demand for withdrawals and (b) increase fire hazard due to earlier drying-out of mountain soils. While statewide precipitation has remained close to normal for the water year, the degrading snowpack condition, potential for poor runoff, and diminished reservoir storage are all indications that water supplies are likely to remain stressed for the rest of this water year.

This year’s peak SWE of 12.0” was reached on March 22nd, which was almost two weeks early. Compared to the normal peak SWE of 14.3”, this year’s peak was 84% of normal and was almost exactly the same as last year’s, which is rather disappointing given that we were at 131% of normal SWE as of January 1st. This winter ranks 36th of the 42 years for which we have collected statewide SWE values at our SNOTEL sites. For context, the only years since the beginning of the SNOTEL system with peak SWE lower than this year were (in order of decreasing SWE): 2013, 2012, 2007, 1992, 2018, and 2015. Statewide precipitation was 79% of normal for the month of March, bringing the water-year-to-date value to 96% of normal. Most of Utah’s major watersheds remain close to normal precipitation for the 2022 water year due to early season gains. For the longer-term picture, Utah is still experiencing the impacts of the below-normal precipitation received during water years 2020 and 2021. As noted in previous reports, we would need to receive a little more than 13” of additional precipitation above and beyond ‘normal’ conditions in order to replenish depleted reserves in our reservoir and other storage systems.

Streamflow forecasts for April to July snowmelt runoff volume range from 23% to 95% of average , with most of western and central Utah forecast points predicted to have 35-75% of average flow. Most forecast points in eastern Utah are expected to fare a bit better, with forecasts generally between 65-85% of average. Utah’s reservoir storage is at 56% of capacity, down 12% from this time last year. Surface Water Supply Indices (SWSI) for Utah basins combine our current reservoir levels with the additional volume of water anticipated for each watershed based on these April 1 streamflow forecasts. The majority of Utah’s basins continue to have alarmingly low SWSI values, suggesting that water supplies may be extremely limited in large portions of the state this summer. Particularly concerning are anticipated water supply conditions in the Sevier, San Pitch, Beaver, Joe’s Valley, Weber-Ogden, and Provo basin, with SWSI percentiles at 12th and lower.

WEATHER OUTLOOK

BY GLEN MERRILL, NWS

This has not been the water year we had all hoped for, as peak snowpack conditions were reached in the third week of March, and the train that’s hard to stop has been rolling ever since due to an early ripening of the snowpack and an the subsequent beginning to our 2022 snowmelt runoff season. The driver for this came only days post the Water Users Workshop when a strong ridge of high pressure built overhead yielding record breaking temperatures some 20 degrees above normal, lots of sun, and strong winds at the tail end. If we look at March as a whole, the average temperatures don’t overly standout as excessive, as several modest storms brought cooler than normal temperatures, but it was those times between storms that were anomalously warm and fired the ripening process and snowmelt engine up. This certainly was not what we wanted to see after record breaking dry conditions which lasted from the first week in January and continued through the end of February across the state. We can thank the exceptional mountain snowfall we accumulated in December for the bulk of this water year’s precipitation and mountain snow, but the current scenario moving forward remains, well…bleak.

What it would take to stop the steaming train of snowmelt to stall, or even reverse a bit, would be essentially non-stop storms with below normal temperatures this April through May. “Turning the faucet on,” one might say. So how does the weather outlook look like moving forward? If we look out into the third week of April, there actually is a high probability for cooler than normal temperatures to be realized. That’s a positive, at least for the time being. The precipitation outlook for that period, however, is tipped to the side we don’t want to see. There’s only about a 20-30% chance of above normal precipitation through that time. A check, or at least net slowdown of the melt from those cooler temps would at least aid, but anything more than that looks unlikely at this time. Going out further in time, the outlook through June from the Climate Prediction Center only looks more grim, with both warmer than normal temperatures and below normal precipitation is the highest probability outcomes. There has been the occasional “miracle May” when a prolonged faucet has turned on in years past, but this year the table isn’t tipped in that direction.

The April 1 “official” water supply forecast from the CBRFC was just released today, but forecast volumes for most all basins have only ticked down since the March 1st forecast. The higher elevation basins across northern and central Utah remain on the highest end of the spectrum for the year, but only lie within the 70-80% normal volumes for the April through July period. Basins lower in elevation, and further to the south tick closer to the 50% of average range. A few locally lower. Let’s hope for that miracle May, otherwise earlier than normal drying driving a longer than normal warm season, and fire season, await just around the corner. This to follow yet another poor snowmelt runoff season and the continuance of at least severe drought conditions statewide.

WATER AND THE LAW
DISTRICT COURT WATER JUDGES

By Jeffry R. Gittins (SMITH HARTVIGSEN, PLLC)

The Utah Judicial Council has proposed an amendment to the Code of Judicial Administration that would allow for the appointment of water judges. The amendment would add Rule 6-104 entitled “District Court Water Judges.”

Under the proposed rule, the Utah Judicial Council will formally designate at least three district court judges as water judges. The Council will consider a judge’s knowledge and experience in relation to water right cases, as well as a judge’s willingness to become familiar with water law. The water judges will elect a supervising water judge to serve a two-year term. The supervising water judge will assign water cases, coordinate schedules and facilities, address concerns regarding the management of water cases, and oversee the use of resources to develop water law expertise and facilitate consistency in the development of case precedents in the water law area. If a water law case is filed in district court, a party to the action can request to have the case assigned to a water judge. The request will be reviewed and possibly granted by the judge originally assigned to the case (if the case is filed under a provision of Title 73, Chapters 3 or 4 of the Utah Code) or by the supervising water judge (if the case is not filed under a provision of Title 73, Chapters 3 or 4 of the Utah Code). A case will be assigned to a water judge on a random basis. If a water judge does not have a full caseload of water cases, the judge will hear non-water law cases to maintain a full court calendar. Water judges do not serve for a specific term, but can only serve so long as they are district court judges and they can resign as a water judge at any time.

The proposed rule also provides that if a water judge decides a water law case of first impression, or a case that creates new law or gives new guidance, the opinion will be published (although the rule does not say exactly where the opinion will be published).

The Council is accepting comments on the proposed rule until April 28, 2022.

MESSAGE FROM THE
DIRECTORS CORNER

By Carly Burton

I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who participated in this year’s Workshop. It was again a huge success with around 850 attending, including registrants, speakers, sponsors, vendors, golf participants, bike ride participants, guest program registrants the Workshop Committee and USU Conference Services. We received many positive comments and suggestions for the program next year. By the way, mark your calendars for next year’s event on March 20-22, 2023. Shortly after the Workshop I received a very nice card in the mail from Christie Hansen in Cache Valley. Here are her kind comments:

“Dear Carly, I’m a newly elected president/treasurer for an irrigation piping company in Cache Valley, and I attended the UWUA Workshop in St. George last week for the first time. Wow! It blew my mind with all there is to know about water in Utah. I was also very impressed with how well the event was run. Thank you and Barbara for all the work you do for Utah Water Users. I’ll be back next year to fill my brain once again. Sincerely, Christie Hansen”. That kind of card makes me feel that we must be doing something right.

UTAH WATER SUMMIT

Now that the Workshop is in the rear view mirror we are starting the planning effort for the Utah Water Summit Conference. This year’s event will be held in a different location. It will be at the Davis Convention Center on October 18, 2022. If you have any topics of interest please e-mail us at carlybarbaraburton@gmail.com.