At a Glance
- The Rio Grande reached historic lows last year.
- Extreme drought has effected the river for several years.
- The uptick could be temporary, depending on future weather and continued climate change.
A year ago, the water level in one drought-plagued section of the Rio Grande river was at its lowest level ever recorded. A significant fact, considering the U.S. Geologic Survey started keeping records more than a century ago.
Now, federal water managers in New Mexico say, parts of the river have done a "complete turnaround" from last year, thanks to a very wet winter across much of the western U.S.
Officials with the Bureau of Reclamation and other federal, state and local water agencies met last week in Albuquerque to discuss forecasts, predictions about how much water will be released from the river's reservoirs this year, the Associated Press reported.
Their assessment? Things are looking up, at least for now.
"This is a complete turnaround from last year when we were preparing for drying in the middle Rio Grande in April," Jennifer Faler, who manages the Bureau of Reclamation's Albuquerque office, told the AP.
(MORE: America's 10 Most Endangered Rivers for 2019)
This year's flow forecast for April predicts flows into the El Vado Reservoir, in northern New Mexico, will be 142% of average. That's up from just 18% last year, according to the AP report.
Similar increases are also expected in other parts of the river that flow through the state.
Last year, one water gauge in the Rio Grande in northern New Mexico recorded the driest conditions since measurements began 130 years ago, Mark Gunn, a hydrologist with the USGS, told CBS News.
"Since we've been measuring since 1889, last year was the lowest discharge … in the history of this gauge," Gunn said.
Scientists and environmentalists concerned about extreme drought and climate change have been ringing alarm bells for years about the state of the Rio Grande River, one of the longest and most well-known waterways in the United States.
The river winds its way nearly 1,900 miles from the peaks of the southern Rocky Mountains in Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico in Texas. It’s perhaps best known as the border between Mexico and Texas, but the Rio Grande provides drinking water for more than six million people, as well as important irrigation water, wildlife habitats and recreation areas.
The Rio Grande drainage basin in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico had some of the worst drought conditions in the U.S. last year, according to weather.com meteorologist Christopher Dolce. But those drought conditions significantly improved - and even disappeared in some areas - thanks to an active and wet winter weather pattern.
Several storms over the past two months brought rain or snow to the southern Rockies, which feeds the Rio Grande. Snowpack from the region will also continue to melt throughout the spring, bringing more water to the river.
"Long-term weather patterns will dictate how long this break from severe drought will last, but for now, the area is in much better shape than it was last spring at this time," Dolce said.
