Scott Paxman, general manager and CEO of the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District, told the Standard-Examiner last week that it was a very normal year, even with a slow start to the snow season.

“We basically had a very average year for snowpack,” he said. “It was right at 100% — it went up and down, but it ended right at the normal level. Where we got hurt was we didn’t have any early rains in October or November last year, so the soil moisture really suffered,” he said. “It was kind of a record low for soil moisture through the winter. Once the ground freezes, it doesn’t percolate, it just runs off.”

As a result of the dry ground and average snowpack, runoff has only been about 65% of normal, according to Paxman.

“We have not and don’t anticipate seeing any flooding, or even really excessive flows at all,” he said. “Ogden Canyon is where we  typically see some higher flows on the South Fork. They get up a little bit but they’re not going to be over the banks excessively like they have been in the past.”

Paxman said that the spring is also shaping up well for the reservoir system as a whole.

“We are looking like we’ll fill all of our reservoirs except for one,” he said. “Lost Creek (Reservoir) probably will not fill. It’ll come very close but I don’t think it will fill, everything else should fill. We’re in good shape as far as storage and water supply for this coming year go.”

He said that he anticipates it will be a good year for the water system as a result.

“We’ve had some good storms this spring, like (Wednesday),” he said. “Overall, I think we’re going to be in great shape. I see us going on storage a little earlier than normal, which means the natural flow of the rivers is going to be a little under what our demand is, so we’ll have to start releasing from the reservoirs a little earlier, which means we’ll be drawing those down a little quicker than normal, but we still have a good supply. When our reservoirs are full, that gives us two years of supply for all of our customers.”

Paxman said releases would typically begin around the beginning of June, but there have already been some minor releases made to help facilitate irrigation needs.

Even with reservoirs in good shape, Paxman still encourages responsible use of water.

“Our advice is wait longer to water, as long as you can, until your lawn sees a little stress and then go ahead and start watering once per week to start with and then twice per week,” he said. “In the heat of the summer — July and August — you might have to get up to three times per week to keep your lawn looking decent. But we’re hoping people are still conservation-minded and really look at what their water use is.”