New white paper summarizes local temperature and hydrologic trends

Check out the new white paper written by John Norton (retired land and water appraiser) and Mike Preston (former Dolores Water Conservancy District general manager), Trends in Temperature, Precipitation and Stream Runoff in the San Juan Mountains: 2000-2021.

Below are a few takeaways from their report. Since the 1990s:

• Average annual temperatures in the San Juan Mountains increased by 3.6 degrees,
• Average annual precipitation decreased by 19%, and
• Combined annual runoff decreased by 34.1% in the San Juan river basin and 29.2% in the Dolores.

Mr. Norton presented the report to the Southwestern Water Conservation District Board of Directors on June 8, 2022. Click here for a copy of those slides, which includes helpful summaries of the report.