The April First end date for the Western water season has come and gone, but what does that mean for regional water supplies in 2024?

Participants: Rod Bain and USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey.

Transcript

With the latest Western water season now concluded, what is the outlook for water supplies going into the spring and summer?

USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey.

For the most part, it is actually a pretty good picture again this year.

And in fact, if you would draw a line from Oregon to western and southern Wyoming, everyone south of that line is reporting above average snow pack that translates the favorable water storage for most of the region.

One area of concern, that is that northern tier of the west extending across from the northern Cascades to the northern Rockies, we see snow pack water equivalencies that are less than 75 percent of average, with Washington state already reporting below average water storage supplies.

Another long term concern below average water storage in the Colorado River Basin.

That despite back to back years of positive snow pack.

I'm Ron Bain reporting for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C.