Officials are warning that this may be a concerning year for drought conditions in the state thanks to rapidly melting snowpack. As of this week, there is overall 37% less water in snowpack than the usual average due to early melting. The Drought Monitor released a new map on May 1st that showed Duchesne and Uintah Counties are both categorized as ‘Abnormally Dry’ and ‘Moderate Drought’ in the southern part of each county. Uintah County has a portion in the far southeast corner that is categorized as ‘Severe Drought’. Daggett County showed no sign of drought on the map. Fortunately for northeastern Utah, it is for now the least extreme in the drought conditions but Uintah and Carbon Counties both are included in the state of emergency over drought concerns declared by Governor Cox. While the melting snowpack and drought conditions are less than ideal, there is one redeeming water fact and that is that the reservoirs have overall stayed above average for this time of year. Starvation Reservoir is 99% full, Big Sand Wash Reservoir is about 92% full, Flaming Gorge is currently at about 84% full, Steinaker and Red Fleet are each near 66% full, and Moon Lake Reservoir is 64% full. The U.S. Drought Monitor is available at droughtmonitor.unl.edu.
