Ken Curtis, general manager of the Dolores Water Conservancy District, gave Cortez City Council an equally bleak and hopeful presentation about the devastating impacts of a dry winter and spring on Tuesday.
He assured council members that municipal water in Cortez and Towaoc is protected while addressing the consequences of prolonged bouts of low precipitation and high temperatures.
“These are dire times. We're going to be about the third worst year on record,” Curtis said. “We're just slightly better than our worst year.”
March was an impactful month for water resources. It was the warmest March in Colorado’s history yielding 0.7 inches of snow, or 14% of the monthly average, for Cortez.
“Prior to the drought, we often counted on March as one of our biggest snow making months and that has certainly not been the case regularly in the last 26 years,” Curtis said. “Per the precipitation map, we were largely under what the 30-year average would have told us to expect.”
In March, fire ignited south of Colorado Springs and temperatures reached into the 90s on the eastern plains of the state. Snow melted a month earlier than the average year, depleting the little snow pack present in Southwest Colorado, which Curtis estimated to be about 5% of the average by April 1.
Curtis said the Cortez area has always relied on snow melt beginning on April 1. But the past winter was different.
“If you spend any time in the lower elevations, none of the snow pack below 9,000 feet stayed the whole winter. It came, it melted. It came, it melted,” he said.
Cortez’s water comes from McPhee Reservoir. However, the Dolores River – which feeds McPhee – is at 23% of its average flow. Montezuma County is in severe drought and the city’s mandatory water restrictions preventing the watering of lawns between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. commence May 15.
The city hasn’t announced any further mandatory restrictions and Curtis said municipal water will not face cuts.
“We do prioritize the municipal water. When we talk about our project supply, the first water we set aside is municipal. We will not let the municipalities go short,” Curtis said.
According to Curtis, municipal water supply makes up a small portion of the amount extracted from McPhee Reservoir each year. He estimated it will make up around 10% this year with the ongoing drought but in previous years it lay somewhere below 5%.
Curtis said mandatory shortages won’t be imposed, but people around Cortez will experience shortages nonetheless.
He pointed to the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe Farm, which he said initially anticipated receiving 8% of its normal water supply but, due to negotiations, has been bumped up to 14%.
“It's not going to be a full farming year. So, a lot of fallowed fields to the south and the north,” Curtis said.
Senior water rights holders in the region will see 40% of their normal water, he said, but ideally that will be raised to 50%.
City Council member Claire West asked Curtis if there is a way to anticipate the farming community’s needs.
Curtis, a farmer himself, cited federal and state funds and loans accessible to farmers. Regionally, the Montezuma County Farm Service Agency offers an insurance-type coverage in the event of lower crop yields due to drought and other circumstances.
However, he said, there’s no good answers for the financial fallout farmers are likely to experience in the face of limited water.
“I worry about our younger farmers,” Curtis said. “The revenue doesn't match the billing.”
But recent, cooler days have brought some cause for hope when it comes to preserving and prolonging limited water supplies, he said.
“This return to spring that we've had has actually slowed down the start of the irrigation season,” Curtis said. “The farmers are turning on, but the cool and somewhat wet weather is being a little bit helpful for the start of the season.”
Forests in Southwest Colorado are surviving off the remaining moisture, Curtis said, but the next couple months’ weather will determine how quickly fire season will come on. Recent precipitation is also a silver lining – while McPhee will appear noticeably drained as irrigation season kicks into gear, residents will still be able to enjoy the reservoir as both a lifeline and a recreation opportunity.
“We're still here. We're still thriving. I think we can get through this,” Curtis said.
avanderveen@the-journal.com
