Heading into April, Colorado water managers say snowfall the next few weeks would have to be more than twice of normal for the snowpack to reach the average peak snowpack, which typically happens April 8. A big swath of the high country is still classified as being in extreme drought.

The Western Water Assessment, Mountain Studies Institute, San Juan Headwaters Forest Health Partnership, and U.S. Forest Service witll be sponsoring a San Juan Bark Beetles and Watersheds Workshop April 10, 2013 from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm at the Durango Public Library. There will also be a community meeting and open house in Pagosa Springs the evening of April 9th.

Ranchers and growers in the Roaring Fork Valley and elsewhere in the Colorado River basin would have a new incentive for conserving water without jeopardizing their water rights under legislation moving forward in the Colorado Legislature. The drought-fueled measure, put forth by state Sen.

A handful of Colorado cities are telling ranchers and farmers suffering through an ongoing drought it's doubtful any extra water will be available for agriculture this year, the Greeley Tribune reports.

In defiance of gravity, water from the Animas River is piped 600 feet up the hillside from Santa Rita Park to Lake Nighthorse reservoir. The pumps are so powerful that they could suck the Animas River dry. Almost two years after the reservoir was filled in June 2011, local government officials have not allowed kayaking, bird watching or mountain biking on the 5,500-acre site.

Colorado’s new state forester and director of the Colorado State Forest Service may be moving here from Pennsylvania, but his forestry roots are pure Colorado. Mike Lester is a CSU alumnus and spent time with the Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station.

Pending litigation aside, representatives from the three Rio Grande Compact states united yesterday in their joint concern over continued drought along the Rio Grande corridor. Alamosa hosted the annual Rio Grande Compact Commission meeting, which rotates among the states of Colorado, New Mexico and Texas.

With persistent drought conditions across Colorado and low reservoir levels in the southwest, water resource managers are looking at a potentially long and arid summer. Following a dry 2012, the warmest year on record, reservoir levels were already on the low side. Reservoir storage exactly one year ago sat at 104 percent of average, which helped the area get through late summer shortages.

The Colorado State Forest Service is offering an online mapping tool to help professional planners and landowners determine wildfire risk and how to reduce that risk. The Colorado Wildfire Risk Assessment Portal, or CO-WRAP, is a web-mapping tool that provides access to statewide wildfire risk assessment information.