A snowy start to the year may not be enough to overcome a multi-year drought in the southwest.
The nation’s second-largest reservoir, Lake Powell, is on track to be replenished with reports showing inflows 117 percent of average during spring runoff. Scientists say that this will be the case for many major reservoirs but it may still fall short of offsetting drought along the entire Colorado River system, which supplies 40 million people.
Soil moisture is a good indicator of how much water will actually reach those people. Right now even after the snow, levels are well below average.
