Heavy snowfall in Northern Colorado will benefit Colorado Springs

It’s been a bad week in the high country with multiple avalanches closing roads and trapping motorists in the middle.

There were two more avalanches on Thursday. Ethan Greene with Colorado Avalanche Information Center says we’re seeing something that happens once in a generation, “I think it’s pretty safe to say that nobody that is alive has seen a week like this.” The avalanches aren’t just happening on their own.
CDOT is creating some of them to maintain mountain passes. There have also been some reports of human-caused avalanches though right now, Greene can’t say how many. “Part of the issue right now is that with the weather we can’t see everything, there is a lot going on that we can’t see at all.”

While things seem chaotic in the North West, Colorado Springs and Pueblo could reap the benefits as winter moves out.

The planning supervisor for water conservation at Colorado Springs Utilities Kalsoum Abbasi says all this snowfall in our area and especially on the western slope where Colorado Springs gets 60 percent of it’s water, is comforting. Especially after last years drought. “It’s definilty a relief to see a lot more snow pack than last year,” Abbasi says, “last year at this time things didn’t look so great so.”

With more water coming in, Springs Utilities is able to fill its 25 reservoirs. Preparing us for the upcoming dry months, knowing there will be enough water to get us through it. Abbasi says, “It’s nice to have a recovery year where we are seeing the snowpack increase and we can refill our reservoirs and know that we are going to go into the summer in really good shape.”

The rain and snow hopefully helping to reduce fire danger as well.