Monsoon rains have so far delivered little help with moisture across the region.
Nearly 95 percent of the Intermountain West, which includes the Four Corners states and Wyoming, remains in drought. About 30 percent of the region is in extreme or exceptional drought, including Cortez, whose drought status is extreme.
“Isolated monsoon rains failed to provide meaningful, region-wide relief for water supply challenges,” said a release from the National Integrated Drought Information System.
Locally, the month of July was marked by both welcome moisture and not-so welcome heat. Local weather observer James Andrus reports that after what he describes as “two straight months of merciless hot drought,” monsoon rains that arrived in mid-July delivered a total of 1.60 inches that month.
That was 128 percent of the historic average for July. However, heat sucked up much of the moisture. Temperatures were in the 90s for 25 days in July, and July 12th saw a mark of 102 degrees, which tied Cortez’s highest-ever temperature.
The National Integrated Drought Information System reports that nearly every county in the Intermountain West has experienced its warmest year on record since 1901.
Major reservoirs across the Colorado River and Rio Grande basins are reaching historic lows, according to NIDIS.
Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the nation’s two largest reservoirs, are at critical lows. Lake Powell is now at 22 percent capacity.
The largest reservoir in Colorado, Blue Mesa near Gunnison, is at 26 percent capacity, and Elephant Butte Reservoir in New Mexico is at 1.4 percent capacity. NIDIS says that leaves an 82-mile section of the Middle Rio Grande valley dry.
