In May, hydrologists forecasted that spring runoff into Lake Powell would be the lowest in years.

A month later, the projections have only gotten worse.

The Colorado Basin River Forecast Center reported on June 1 that the amount of water expected to flow into Lake Powell between April and July this year will be 45% of average. “Average,” in forecasting, refers to the average runoff between 1991 and 2020.

The June forecast follows a consistent decline since the start of winter.

Hydrologists said in December that Lake Powell’s runoff would be 92% of average. In January, the forecast dropped to 81%, then to 67% in February. The prediction pushed up to 70% in March, but fell to 55% in May, before dropping to 45% in June.

Jack Schmidt, a watershed sciences professor at Utah State Unive

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