Reservoir levels up in Weber

LAYTON — It could be worse for those depending on water from reservoirs surrounding Davis and Weber counties.

Drought AlmanacAdobe Acrobat.

"I think that we can safely say that (the water supply) is better than we thought it would be three months ago," Weber Basin Water Conservancy District board member Wayne Gibson said in the board's monthly meeting Friday. "But that's not to say that we're anywhere near normal."

Irrigation and power manager Grant Salter reported individual reservoir contents, which top out about 15,000 acre-feet higher than this time last year. The increase is due in part to public response to a no-watering time between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., general manager Tage Flint said. Officials have seen fewer sprinklers running during the day than in previous years.

"The real test is, when we come out of this drought cycle and get something close to normal precipitation, if that public ethic continues," Flint said.

He also credited the drought relief system that pumps water from Willard Bay

into the Davis-Weber Canal for the increase in water levels. The system helps avoid excess pressure on higher reservoirs during drought cycles by using water out of Willard first, leaving as much water as possible higher up for later use.

Looking at how much the water conservancy district expends on those pumps at Willard Bay is one way to measure how severe a drought is. This year so far the pumps have been working at almost full capacity, Flint said.

Much of the water is in Pineview Reservoir, which contains 20,000 acre-feet more than it did last year. But that level is dropping rapidly as officials try to let out as much water as possible. A project to upgrade the spillway will begin in six weeks and nearly half the water must be drained so workers can remove the gates from the spillway.

"The reality of it is we're dropping it more than we thought we would because we didn't expect it to fill," Flint said. The reservoir filled up this spring from greater-than-expected snowpack.

Reservoirs are built to hold a two years' supply of water. Even with more water than last year, however, most reservoirs in the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District are still at only 70 percent of capacity. "The outlook for this year is we'll be fine," Tage said. "The trick now is how to safeguard against another bad snow year next year."

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