Recently closed water year was dry, dry, dry

by Bill Boyle
San Juan Record Editor
The recently completed water year was dry, dry, dry in San Juan County, with precipitation well below average throughout the county. The result is decreased ground water, reservoirs carrying a fraction of their capacity, and concern for agriculture.
The fall season was wet and relatively warm through October and into November, but the rain and snow turned off in the winter months.
In the past year, November through March brought just 1.36 inches of precipitation to Monticello. This compares to the remarkable 12.39 inches that Monticello received during the same months in 2022 and 2023.
The winter months generally provide a significant percentage of the water for the year and blesses area mountains with the snow that fills reservoirs.
In total, the winter of 2023 brought more than ten feet of snow to Monticello (120 inches).
This year, Monticello received a total of 44 inches of snow and Blanding had 8 inches of snow.
This year, the dry patterns were similar in the late summer, when the monsoon season generally drives two of the wettest months of the year in July and August.
The monsoon season made a very late arrival in San Juan County, with the relieving summer rains starting late in August rather than the general arrival in mid-July.
The rains did arrive but totals were significantly less than in a regular year. In recent years, the winters have generally been dryer than normal, but the summer monsoons have brought wetter than normal rainfall totals. That was not the case this year, a year in which the San Juan County Fair in early August didn’t see a drop of rain.
The rains were replaced by wildfire, with the Deer Creek Fire near Old La Sal causing millions of dollars in damage and destroying more than a dozen homes while consuming 17,724 acres. (See story above).
An unprecedented tornado swept north of Montezuma Creek later in the year. (See the story on pages A4 and A5.)
Monticello received just 9.81 inches of precipitation for the year, which is 65 percent of the average annual amount of 15.2 inches.
It is similar in Blanding, where the 8.4 inches of rain for the year compares to a multiyear average of 12.9 inches. That is also 65 percent of normal.
In Bluff, the 4.45 inches of water for the year is just 58 percent of the multiyear average of 7.76 inches.
The water year runs from October 1 through September 30.
Reservoirs are generally low at this time of year and this year is no exception.
Loyds Lake, outside of Monticello, carries just 33.1% of its capacity, with a water level at 7,123 feet above sea level. This is 19 feet below the water level one year ago and 27 feet below the level on this date in 2023.
The last time the water level in Loyds Lake was this low on this date was in 2022.
The water level in Recapture Reservoir, outside of Blanding, is in a similar situation. The reservoir is carrying 35.8 percent of its capacity, at 6,031 feet above seas level.
This is 12 feet below the water level one year ago and 21 feet below the level on 2023.
The water level in Recapture Reservoir is 11 feet higher than it was on this date in 2022.
Lake Powell, the massive reservoir in Glen Canyon in western San Juan County, is carrying just 27.6 percent of its capacity at 3544 feet above sea level.
The current water level in Lake Powell is 34 feet below one year ago but still 14 feet higher than the recent low on this date in 2022.
Weather watchers in San Juan County include Jim Hook in Bluff, Kendal Laws in Blanding and Scott Boyle in Monticello.