Josh Barta
jbarta@uwyo.edu
They say April showers bring May flowers. However, as most of us know, that is rarely the case in Wyoming where we sometimes get snowfall all the way into June. Snowfall in the spring not only affects the germination of trees, flowers and plants but the moods of many UW students.
If you did not manage to check your Facebook this last weekend do not worry, you did not miss much. I regret having wasted time on my Facebook after seeing countless insipid photos of snow and posts ranting about the weather. Talking about the weather is bad enough when people use it to make small talk with me.
But this piece is not about the posting habits of my peers. This winter has been particularly dry and it is great that we are getting snow now to make up for it.
Since much of Wyoming is desert, runoff water from snow is a big contributor to our clean water reservoirs. Other states, such as Colorado and California rely strongly on average winter snowfall to supply enough clean water for the dry summer months. Heavy snowfall in Spring is great for areas of Wyoming that need all the fresh water they can get.
In August of 2012, roughly 98 percent of Wyoming was in a drought that left us in a vulnerable state. Large snowfall during the month of March in 2013 helped reduce that to only 38 percent.
The effects of drought can be seen in our lakes and rivers. Years where the drought has been the worst, Glendo Reservoir and Freemont river, among others, get depressingly low.
Water levels affect everything from recreational boating to fishing and agriculture. When California begins drawing too much water from the Colorado river, eyes are cast on Wyoming’s clean water reservoirs to help pick up the slack.
Fresh water is running low nationwide. Utah’s Lake Powell, a reservoir on the Colorado River, has what looks like a bathtub ring that reaches 70 feet from the water’s surface, marking its former glory and reminding us that there is a water crisis in America
Like you, I may mutter a few choice words as I put on my winter coat to go outside when I was wearing shorts and sandals the day before. I quickly remind myself, however, that in a country where fresh water is becoming a precious commodity, we should be grateful for any water stingy mother nature grants us.
