I don't get it w/ the water level.

[FishingLunatic]

I thought we had a pretty good water year, but places are low?
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[harlin]

Not enough water. Most drainages were below average for snowpack. Keep in mind last year sucked as well, so the water levels were already super low to begin with. Everything is not going to spill over with one dry year followed by a below average year. Better start doing some rain dances.
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[riverdog]

2 bad snowpack years in a row. The snow in SL valley this past winter wasn't representative of what happened in the mountains at all. Only 17% of normal statewide now http://www.ksl.com/?nid=149&sid=134181
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[FishingLunatic]

Really? I've heard there's a base of like 80 inches in some canyons from my friends. Even if it's not an insane ammount, it's rained several days as well...don't remember it raining in the spring at all last year. I also thought I've heard some members say that although it's not quite what it was 2 or 3 years ago, this was a pretty good water year. Was it only good for certain places like the Uintah's?

In particular I've noticed the Jordan River...I have the water levels memorized and last year it was like 2 feet higher and it wasn't even a good year.
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[morcey2]

The snowpack totals don't have much meaning after the runoff has actually started. Mid-April, the state was at about 90% of average IIRC. Some drainages like the Sevier River had just a hair over average while the Provo and Bear were below average. Again, this is off the top of my head, but I think it's relatively accurate. Maybe.

Matt
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[TubeDude]

"Really? I've heard there's a base of like 80 inches in some canyons from my friends."

[#0000FF]Heresay from friends is not always a good basis upon which to make evaluations. If you fly over the mountain ranges that hold the snow and contribute to runoff you will see they are more green than white. The heavy runoff is over for this year. All future snow melt will go into the ground with very little going into the streams...and certainly not enough to raise the levels of any reservoirs.

This is Utah. Two years in a row of low snowpack is nothing compared to past drought cycles. We had several years of above average snowpack beginning in 2005...after several years of drought. Now the cycle seems to be swinging back the other way.

Changes in weather affect our fishing but we just have to recognize the conditions and adjust our plan of attack accordingly. It sure doesn't help to complain about it. Kinda like marriage.
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[FishingLunatic]

Actually low water levels makes the fishing easier for me. It all started when I heard you say along time ago that they were going to be letting water out of the pump house. I'll be surprised if the water level in the Jordan has risen even a foot. I'd say it's risen maybe 6-9 inches. It really just wasn't what I expected.
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[jeremypeace]

Same story here in Idaho well south east Idaho. Some of my favorite places never even reached full mark and have already began to.drop rapidly, one has dropped over 5 feet in just a weeks time
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]The lake level and the flow into the Jordan River are all determined by agreements with downstream water users and other considerations. They dumped a lot of water late last fall to allow them to shut off the river during the time they were working on the renovation at the pump house. Once they started work they completely dammed the old Jordan River outlet channel and kept all the gates closed on the control dam. That lasted through the winter and into April and Utah Lake came up a couple of feet.

In "normal" years, Utah Lake is only a couple of feet down from high water mark by the time runoff starts in late April or early May. And a good runoff will bring the lake up to the full mark. This year it was already low in April and there was not enough runoff to bring the lake up much further. I am guessing that we will see a very low Utah Lake by late summer this year.

Low water does concentrate the fish. But it also messes up their food chain and the fish get stressed and hungry. Two or three years in a row of low water, poor spawning and poor feeding has an impact that lasts for several years into the future.
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[CoyoteSpinner]

Except for a few high-mountain lakes, I'd wager we've got almost no bodies of water that are governed by "natural causes", so much as controlled, fed, and tapped at the discretion and direction of the mighty furless apes.

[RapalaUt]

Going to be a nasty if we don't get a lot of rain-not likely.

Rumor that's it hasn't been this bad in ten years
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[riverdog]

I think you're right. Things are already parched up to about 9,000 ft. Long summer ahead unless a heap of rain falls.
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[reelfast]

[url "ftp://ftp.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/data/snow/update/ut.txt"]ftp://ftp.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/data/snow/update/ut.txt[/url]

Paste this address on your browser. The UT is the state. If you put for example id. next to the txt you will get Idaho watershed information. The water year is not that bad. I lived through 50% years in Idaho and managed fine. They really push this conserve water thing. But on the edge of western citys I see expansion and construction. So I pay more for water and conserve so a land developer in Nevada can build another subdivision. The stream flow info-http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ut/nwis/current?type=flow is another great site. If you fly fish or boat rivers in the west and need to know how high the water is it can help you determind the answer to that.
I think the problem for the Weber this year is the work on Echo has left it with no carry over or useful storage because of the work being done. I hope this helps.
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[riverdog]

While there have already been wildfire deaths this year in Colorado I don't think most of us are worried about whether will live through this year's wildfire season. Wildfire season seems to have started here in Utah
http://www.ksl.com/?sid=25588103&nid=148...featured-1
The US has a growing population and yes all those new people need water. NV, ID, UT and WY are all among the highest per capita water users.
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[sinergy]

Don't forget the had a warm February those warm pockets caused miniature runs offs and water flowed down stream.

When March / April hit the Spring Run off was very minimal.
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[castnshoot]

If you really want to learn how to understand some of the water run off and snow melt
as it has to do with water you may or may not get in your favorite lake.

Go to and study this site.

http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/snotel/Utah/utah.html

Don't just look at snow depth, learn how to interpit ground saturation, and some of the other info like water content.

Go into the history and compare year to year. Follow this for a couple of years and you can be a pretty good predictor of summer lake levels.
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