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Gov. Jared Polis declared a statewide emergency on Thursday in response to record-low snowpack and persistent above-average temperatures across Colorado.
The move releases additional funding to address the impacts of the dry weather on public lands, farmers and residential water users. It’s also a condition of advancing to Phase 3 of Colorado’s Drought Response Plan, a category reserved for the most severe periods of continued dry weather.
Besides allowing the state to access additional funding, the escalation raises the possibility of asking the White House for an emergency declaration.
Gov. Polis activated the Drought Task Force in March. It recommended the move at its monthly meeting on Monday. During the gathering, Russ Schumacher, the state climatologist, said exceptionally warm temperatures and low snowpack have driven the state into one of the driest summers ever.
"The river flows are going to be extremely low into the summer. They already are low, they're going to stay low,” he said.
Across the state, ranchers are fallowing fields, and Western Slope water managers are making hard choices about how to mete out a limited water supply. Municipalities across the state have issued water restrictions. The dry conditions are also contributing to increased wildfire risk across the West this summer, although recent rain provided some relief in parts of the state.
The move releases additional funding to address the impacts of the dry weather on public lands, farmers and residential water users. It’s also a condition of advancing to Phase 3 of Colorado’s Drought Response Plan, a category reserved for the most severe periods of continued dry weather.
Besides allowing the state to access additional funding, the escalation raises the possibility of asking the White House for an emergency declaration.
Gov. Polis activated the Drought Task Force in March. It recommended the move at its monthly meeting on Monday. During the gathering, Russ Schumacher, the state climatologist, said exceptionally warm temperatures and low snowpack have driven the state into one of the driest summers ever.
"The river flows are going to be extremely low into the summer. They already are low, they're going to stay low,” he said.
Across the state, ranchers are fallowing fields, and Western Slope water managers are making hard choices about how to mete out a limited water supply. Municipalities across the state have issued water restrictions. The dry conditions are also contributing to increased wildfire risk across the West this summer, although recent rain provided some relief in parts of the state.
