A July 1 declaration of a drought emergency for Western Colorado by Gov. Jared Polis opens up federal and state dollars to help those most affected by the lack of moisture.

As of July 1, the US Drought Monitor lists 18 counties as being in extreme or exceptional drought.

Extreme drought means that pasture conditions get worse, city landscapes start to die, and the risk for large fires increase. For recreation and tourism, the impacts include fish kills, and lower stream flows for rafting and fishing. 

At the most extreme drought level, agriculture and recreation can expect large economic losses, water temperatures in lakes and rivers increase and mandatory water restrictions are often imposed.

The governor’s declaration is the third, and most serious, phase tied to the state’s Drought Plan. Polis last activated the state’s drought plan just a year ago, for 40 out of Colorado’s 64 counties.

Megan Holcomb, a senior climate specialist with the Colorado Water Conservation Board, said the first phase allows for a close watch on condition for a persistent or rapidly worsening drought. The second phase activates several task forces, with the potential for a drought emergency. The third phase is the actual declaration.

Activating the drought plan opens up limited state funds, including two emergency drought funds controlled by the CWCB as well as year-round drought Planning Grants.

One $500,000 fund deals with flood and drought response; the other is $1 million for emergency agricultural water augmentation. Those grants go to agricultural organizations for water that would have been purchased in a non-drought year.

However, Holcomb said, most of the money that will go to deal with the drought comes from federal funds. Those include the USDA Farm Service Agency Disaster Assistance Programs and the USDA Rural Development: Emergency Community Water Assistance Grants.

The latter could be a boon to Glenwood Springs. A series of mudslides in Glenwood Canyon over the past week has not only led to detours but to water restrictions. Last week, the city asked residents to limit water usage until June 30. The city also has asked residents to avoid watering lawns at certain times of the day.

Last week’s water restrictions were in response to heavy rains that reduced the amount of water the Glenwood Springs municipal water system could treat. Those rains resulted in sediment and debris.

The drought emergency declaration “acts as an opportunity for the Governor to raise awareness of drought conditions, and shows his increased readiness and support to state and local partners as they provide emergency services as needed,” Holcomb said in a statement to Colorado Politics.

During the most recent meeting of the state’s Water Availability Task Force, assistant state climatologist Becky Bollinger of Colorado State University said temperatures between March and May averaged 1 to 3 degrees warmer along the Western Slope, while temperature on the Front Range and Eastern Plains have been average. But June has been worse, and those above-average temperatures also have affected the Front Range and northern Eastern Plains.

The good news, she said, is that May was the wettest for the Front Range and Eastern Plains it has been since 2015 and 11th wettest on record. Western Colorado was drier than average, particularly around Durango and the San Juan Mountains, she said.

Three counties — Routt, San Miguel and Montrose — didn’t seen any precipitation through the third week of June, she said.

In Routt County, the Yampa River reached a temperature of 75 degrees on Sunday. Two days at that temperature and Steamboat Springs would shut down the river through town, which would close recreational activities such as boating and fishing. The Yampa River south of Stagecoach Reservoir has been closed to fishing since May because of critically low stream flows.

As to any hope of relief, Bollinger said that long-range precipitation forecasts for July show average or below-average precipitation. Long-range forecasts show high probability of warmer-than-average temperatures and drier-than-average conditions, she explained.

In addition, monsoon patterns are not going to come to Colorado’s aid, Bollinger indicated. Climate change is weakening the Jetstream pattern and that negatively impacts average precipitation, although modeling is showing near-average rain, she said.

Karl Wetlaufer, a hydrologist with the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, pointed out that the White and Yampa river basins saw some of the state’s most meager precipitation, with just 29% of average in June. The Upper Colorado River Basin had a good May, receiving 91% of its normal precipitation, but June was the exact opposite, at just 12% of normal rainfall.

Most of the area’s reservoirs are at 75% or more full, which Wetlaufer said will allow for a buffer in water management throughout the rest of the summer. Denver Water announced Monday that Dillon Reservoir is now 100% full.

The one bright spot: for the Eastern Plains, reservoirs on the South Platte are on average near capacity, thanks to above-average rainfall in May.