Low snowpack impacts Phoenix water reservoirs
April 6
Results from a new airborne snow survey over northeastern Arizona found that due to a dry and warm winter, most of the snow water measured in January and February had melted by mid-March, offering water managers an unusually clear view of how quickly the season changed.
Arizona’s mountain snowmelt provides a significant portion of the Phoenix metropolitan water supply. For SRP, even small changes in mountain snowpack can affect how much water eventually flows into reservoirs during the spring melt season.
Information about how much, or in this case how little, snow remains will help SRP hydrologists decide by early summer where to store water and how much groundwater they will need to use.
Enrique Vivoni, the director of the Center for Hydrologic Innovations at Arizona State University joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss the latest findings.
