Longmont’s upstream water supply is at near normal levels thanks to heavy snows earlier this year and recent smaller storms, the city’s water resource manager said Wednesday.
A few more storms will still make Ken Huson feel a little bit better.
“A lot of people are looking for spring to arrive,” Huson told members of the city’s sustainability advisory board. “I say let it snow.”
Huson told the board that three water basins that feed into Longmont’s water supply are relatively healthy with the St. Vrain Creek River Basin — where accounts for at least two-thirds of Longmont’s water — is at 112% of average, Huson said.
The South Platte River Basin’s snowpack — another supplier of Longmont water — dipped to near record lows in the fall, Huson said. Levels rebounded quickly due to late-and-early snow storms.
“And the little snow storms really brought us along,” Huson said. The South Platte Basin is about 96% of average and “that is pretty good,” he said.
About a third of Longmont’s water supply comes from the Western Slope, which has also recovered from heavy drought conditions, Huson said. The West Slope is now at 96% of average, he said.
Huson said he will bring a recommendation to the City Council in April about water usage for the rest of the year as well as 2023.
