Very low water levels are seen at Jordanelle Reservoir in Wasatch County on April 18. Utah’s reservoir system was at 57 percent capacity as of Wednesday, but some reservoirs are nearly empty while others are doing extremely well. (Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)
Approximate reading time: 5-6 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — The Piute Reservoir in southwestern Utah is now nearly empty as its last remaining water dries up in the July heat.
The death of the reservoir can easily be blamed on the poor snow cover of the past few years, making it impossible to refill the reservoir in the winter. After several bad cycles, the Utah Department of Water Resources listed it as just 0.23 percent full as of noon Wednesday.
“Almost all of these reservoirs in the center of the state are struggling,” said Laura Haskell, drought coordinator for the Utah Department of Water Resources.
But it’s an entirely different story at Stateline Reservoir, more than 350 miles to the northeast. The reservoir in the Uinta Mountains is actually spewing above its stated capacity—one of two in the area still above 100 percent capacity even in the middle of meteorological summer.
Utah’s reservoir system is collectively at 57% of capacity, but why are some of Utah’s reservoirs bordering on empty while others are thriving?
There are several factors, Haskell says.
What’s Helping and Hurting Utah’s Reservoirs
All of Utah’s reservoirs thrive on snowpack, which is the water found in the snow that falls in Utah’s mountain ranges. It melts in the spring, flowing into rivers, creeks and streams – many of which feed into reservoirs built in the last century.
However, this was not always the case. Last year’s runoff was hampered by dry conditions to close 2020, mixed with below-average snowpack accumulation between fall 2020 and spring 2021. Experts found that most of the runoff ended up recharging water levels. groundwater.
Although 2021 ended strong in terms of precipitation, below-average snowpack for the state meant there wasn’t much water flowing into reservoirs that had been depleted by drought conditions the past two years. The two-decade-long megadrought has also depleted reservoir levels across the state.
Utah’s reservoirs have the highest capacity
- Stateline Reservoir (Summit County): 103.02%
- Smith and Morehouse Reservoir (Summit County): 101.47%
- Causey Reservoir (Weber County): 95.17%
- Currant Creek Reservoir (Wasatch County): 94.09%
- Rockport Reservoir (Summit County): 91.95%
- Ken’s Lake (Grand County): 90.74%
- Millsite Reservoir (Emery County): 88.71%
- Echo Reservoir (Summit County): 80.96%
- Starvation Reservoir (Duchesne County): 79.5%
- Porcupine Reservoir (Cache County): 78.22%
Utah’s reservoirs have the lowest capacity
- Piute Reservoir (Piute County): 0.23%
- Gunnison Reservoir (Sevier County): 1.48%
- Yuba Lake (Juab County): 10.78%
- Lower Enterprise Reservoir (Washington County): 13.69%
- Minersville Reservoir (Beaver County): 13.74%
- Upper Enterprise Reservoir (Washington County): 15.18%
- Woodruff Creek Dam (Rich County): 17.5%
- Newton Reservoir (Cache County): 20.06%
- Otter Creek Reservoir (Garfield County): 24.47%
- Lake Powell (San Juan County): 26.33%
Source: Information from the Utah Department of Water Resources as of noon July 13.
But there are a few differences that allow for huge ranges within Utah’s reservoir levels.
First, there’s size. Lake Powell, the nation’s second largest reservoir, is a monster compared to most other reservoirs in the state. That’s about 48 times the size of Piute Reservoir. This means that Lake Powell takes much longer to empty than Piute Reservoir, but it also takes much longer to refill.
Then there is consumption. Many conservation districts in Utah have set goals before irrigation season to reduce water use this year, Haskell said. This allowed some reservoirs to build levels without wasting water to farms or communities.
The late-season winter storms that hit northern Utah also had an impact. Reduced use and storms this past season are likely why Stateline and Smith and Morehouse reservoirs are listed above 100 percent capacity in July, and others in northeastern Utah are well above the state average.
“It just dumped right into that area,” Haskell said. “It really helped because it was a snowpack (and) it was right around that time of the runoff. It was a good moment.”
One notable example of this is Rockport Reservoir in Summit County. The reservoir made global headlines last year when water levels dropped to the point where parts of the ghost town that once existed on land resurfaced. These low levels are a result of the reservoir’s inability to fill in 2021.
Rockport is already over 90% full because it had much more normal snowpack runoff this spring, and it’s small enough that a year can make a big difference.
This graph shows the current water levels in Rockport Reservoir in relation to last year’s levels and the average water year of the past 40 years. (Photo: Utah Department of Water Resources)
Unfortunately, the spring snowstorms didn’t hit every part of the state, leaving southern and south-central Utah especially dry. This is why most of the lowest reservoir levels are in these parts of the state, although low reservoir levels can be found anywhere in the state.
Many of the reservoirs in south-central Utah are typically bodies of water that can refill in one to two years, according to Haskell. Because so much water was used last year, there was below-average snowpack, and some of the wetter spring weather escaped the region, those reservoirs didn’t fill up this spring.
“It really dried them out,” she said.
What does this mean for the residents who use these reservoirs? Haskell explains that most people have a variety of water sources to go to once the reservoir runs dry, such as springs, streams and groundwater reservoirs. These are the types of sources that communities with low reservoirs will likely have to rely on before some of the reservoirs have water again.
Utah Water Supply Outlook
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Utah water experts feared the state’s entire reservoir system could drop as much as 40 percent last year. It dropped below 50% for a while but never went lower. The governor said billions of gallons of water have been saved through conservation efforts to make a difference.
This map shows the levels of Utah’s largest reservoirs as of July 13. The system for the entire country is listed as 57% of capacity. (Photo: Utah Department of Water Resources)
A year later, and the state’s reservoirs are almost exactly where they were at this time last year, despite a worse starting point this year. Water levels are expected to continue to decline over the next few months before stabilizing during the fall and winter months.
While there’s no telling how long the state’s drought will last, Haskell said he hopes similar cuts in water use will happen over the next few months so the state’s levels don’t drop too low.
“We were hoping for a great winter last year – a good snow pack – and it was a bit disappointing,” she said. “Every drop we save now is just going to help us in the future because we don’t know how long we’re going to be in a drought.”
Tips on how to help reduce water use can be found online through Utah’s Slow The Flow program.
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Carter Williams is an award-winning reporter who covers general news, outdoors, history and sports for KSL.com. He previously worked for the Deseret News. He was transplanted from Utah by way of Rochester, New York.
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