Durango’s snow pact has been 120 percent of the average this year, Aaron Ball, adventure education operations manager at Fort Lewis College, said.
Compared to last year, the amount of snow in the Durango area has been quite surprising. However according to climate change patterns, this unpredictable weather isn’t so unpredictable after all, Heidi Steltzer, biology professor, said.
“Climate change doesn’t just mean that the earth is warming,” Steltzer said. “It means that there is more extreme weather.”
With climate change, there are patterns of interannual variability. This means that there are bigger swings in weather between the years, Steltzer said.
Though Durango has had plenty of precipitation so far this year, it still remains in drought conditions due to previous year’s lack of precipitation, Steltzer said.
“Durango was stressed for water last year, and we still do not have enough to fill the reservoirs,” Ball said.
Last year Durango’s economy suffered due to the fire, Ball said.
“Silverton’s local businesses were even taking donations,” Ball said. “The highway was closed, the railroad was closed, the air was smokey. Nobody wanted to come here.”
The only way the snow could affect Durango’s economy is if flooding made national news, which is doubtful, Wes Leland, adventure education field instructor, said. The snow has already helped with tourism through the winter and will probably continue to do so through the warmer upcoming seasons.
“If the snow melts all at once, it could create some problems,” Leland said.
These problems are mainly due to the drought and fire last year, Leland said.
“There is no vegetation to hold down the soil if there is any flooding,” Leland said. “It could create quite a mess.”
When ash and topsoil are washed into the rivers, it adds carbon and nitrogen, and stirs up all the other nutrients, Sadie Magnifico, assistant coordinator of the Environmental Center, said. This water pollution will make the river dark and muddy, and affect the aquatic life.
Fishing isn’t the only outdoor activity that could be affected by flooding. Rafters, tubers, and kayakers may have to be on the lookout for logs and other debri floating down the river, Leland said.
“Most of our trained raft guides don’t know how to guide on high water, because we haven’t had it in so long,” Leland said. “We need to ensure safety this river season.
People playing outdoors also need to be cautious of high water when jumping into water at places such as Baker’s Bridge, Cascade Creek, and Adrenaline Falls, Ball said.
“The runoff will be cold. I’ve gone to Bakers Bridge a lot with search and rescue, because people jump off into the water without knowing how cold it is, and then they’re too paralyzed to swim,” Ball said.
Trails will also be affected, due to muddy conditions, Magnifico said.
“I recommend biking, running and hiking on national forest roads,” Magnifico said. “If you are on a trail, you should just walk through the mud rather then to the side of the trail to avoid it, because that affects our trail systems and the surrounding vegetation.”
On the bright side, vegetation should be much more abundant and diverse this year, Steltzer said.
“Last year I noticed in the high country that there were mostly Alpine Havens, which is a very stress tolerant plant, and Paintbrushes which are semi-parasitic,” Stelzer said. “This year we should have more wildflowers.”
If the snow melts slowly, and we get a good monsoon season, we could avoid the negative impacts of snow all together, Steltzer said.
“Snow reaches places rain wouldn’t,” Steltzer siad. “The soil is always wet beneath the snow, and it recharges groundwater.”
Drought conditions may still be in effect, but the Southwest is headed in a good direction, Ball said.