Basalt—At a whopping 145 percent of normal, the snowpack in the Roaring Fork Watershed is the highest it’s been in April in over a decade. While rafters and kayakers are excitedly anticipating a huge spring run off, it may actually be lower than expected because the dry, thirsty soils in the region are sucking up a lot of the melting snow. It’s all part of nature’s way of recovering from the record year of drought. Nevertheless, officials with the Roaring Fork Conservancy say flows along the Colorado, Roaring Fork, Fryingpan and Crystal Rivers will be well above average. At 1,660 cubic feet per second, the Colorado River at Glenwood Springs is about 300 cfs below normal.
