While definitely encouraging it remains highly problematical

Above-average snowpack predicted to bring Lake Powell up to 3,639 feet… Posted: Wednesday, Feb 27th, 2008 …BY: Bob Phillips — Lake Powell Chronicle …EXCERPTED … PAGE — Multiple storms have dumped considerable amounts of snow into the Colorado River basin this winter, which could bode very well for boosting the level of Lake Powell, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Much will depend, however, on how much precipitation falls in March and beyond, said Rick Clayton, a hydraulic engineer for Reclamation and acting operational hydrologist for Glen Canyon Dam. “A lot can happen before we get to the end of July,” Clayton said. “But conditions are favorable for some filling to occur this year.” Every tributary system but one in the Colorado River basin boasts average or above average snowpack levels at this point, Clayton said. The Green River in Wyoming and Utah is at about 90 percent of normal snowpack; at the other end of the spectrum is the San Juan River drainage, which is currently at about 140 percent of normal. About 70 percent of all runoff in the Colorado River basin comes from snowmelt, and that water typically flows into the main river system between April and July, Clayton said. May and June usually produce the greatest amount of runoff, he added. Current projections forecast a basin-wide runoff that is 120 percent of normal, Clayton said. “That’s promising,” he said. “When we run our modeling to see what kind of impact that will have on Lake Powell, we find that (by August) we should be about 49 feet above where we’re at currently.” That would put the lake elevation at 3,639 feet, Clayton said. “March is very critical,” he emphasized. “You either build snow, or you can have a potential loss of snow, when that is (typically) one of the wetter months in terms of snow accumulation.”While definitely encouraging it remains highly problematical …

In a perfect world, leaders might choose to see this as simply borrowed time and exhibit the type of leadership necessary for Arizona to survive in a declining water environment…?

Most reputable weather experts feel the WEST which certainly includes Arizona remains under a prevailing drought influence.

It remains to be seen how our Governor and our State Legislature respond to this latest information. If history be our judge, one might expect to see escalated forms of development state wide.

It appears no one in a leadership position wants to address the question, what really happens when this “water” bubble bursts and ???

There are solutions, you may not like them, but they certainly exist and “we” would be wise to at least make ourselves aware of them, even a few of them, as opposed to choosing to remain deaf, dumb and blind…?

In the end it remains simply a matter of choice. So what’s yours…?