=Ridgeline - Cochecton, NY - Upper Delaware River=

[TR]

Good afternoon all.

Here's a pan of the Upper Delaware River taken a few minutes ago near Cochecton, NY - about 5 miles south of Callicoon.

Looking west towards PA.

No snowpack at all.

Warmer next week - in the mid 40s.

Tight lines.
TR

 

[flyI4]

Good afternoon all.

Here's a pan of the Upper Delaware River taken a few minutes ago near Cochecton, NY - about 5 miles south of Callicoon.

Looking west towards PA.

No snowpack at all.

Warmer next week - in the mid 40s.

Tight lines.
TR

View attachment 12203

In my mind the warm winter has been a blessing because rain (instead of snow) has allowed Cannonsville to catch up more than it would have in an ordinary winter with snow which provides less water volume. Snow is always nice to replenish ground water but getting the res back to around 100% was a primary concern and that is not going to be an issue now most likely. Lets see how early they start dumping this year to create a buffer only to stick us with 225 at hale eddy this april.

 

[Future Fanatic]

In my mind the warm winter has been a blessing because rain (instead of snow) has allowed Cannonsville to catch up more than it would have in an ordinary winter with snow which provides less water volume. Snow is always nice to replenish ground water but getting the res back to around 100% was a primary concern and that is not going to be an issue now most likely.

Rain that fell in late fall and early winter obviously coincided with warm temperatures. The ground was not frozen so there is a high likelihood that much of the water was just recharge for the water table(assuming the ground is NOT saturated which would also decrease permeability). That's not a BAD thing, it actually being great for the overall health of the watershed but that new water in the water table will reach the streams through the ground slowly.

If an inch of water is going to fall, it will be an inch of rain or about ten inches of snow. The good thing(for our concerns) about snow is that snowpack will not only melt, but most often will melt with the ground underneath it frozen near solid. Because of the low permeability of the soil then, the water in the snowpack will primarily be runoff and NOT recharge. Runoff will contribute to the reservoirs gaining volume quickly. Of course with snowpack we lose some volume to evaporation and sublimation over the course of the winter, but we lose very little to the ground.

Right NOW the reservoirs are just one percent over "normal". We are CERTAINLY not at a "normal" amount of snowpack. We've got about two months to whiten the place up and THAT can certainly happen, but RIGHT NOW there is next to nothing to provide runoff in the spring to increase Cannonsville the 16%(right now) it needs to spill.

 

[Wbranch]

Rain that fell in late fall and early winter obviously coincided with warm temperatures. The ground was not frozen so there is a high likelihood that much of the water was just recharge for the water table(assuming the ground is NOT saturated which would also decrease permeability). That's not a BAD thing, it actually being great for the overall health of the watershed but that new water in the water table will reach the streams through the ground slowly.

If an inch of water is going to fall, it will be an inch of rain or about ten inches of snow. The good thing(for our concerns) about snow is that snowpack will not only melt, but most often will melt with the ground underneath it frozen near solid. Because of the low permeability of the soil then, the water in the snowpack will primarily be runoff and NOT recharge. Runoff will contribute to the reservoirs gaining volume quickly. Of course with snowpack we lose some volume to evaporation and sublimation over the course of the winter, but we lose very little to the ground.

Right NOW the reservoirs are just one percent over "normal". We are CERTAINLY not at a "normal" amount of snowpack. We've got about two months to whiten the place up and THAT can certainly happen, but RIGHT NOW there is next to nothing to provide runoff in the spring to increase Cannonsville the 16%(right now) it needs to spill.

Thanks for the primer on water and how it relates to the reservoir. Great post.

 

[mudbug201]

Thanks for the primer on water and how it relates to the reservoir. Great post.

Ditto that. Very interesting. now I know what to root for, weather wise, as we head into winter's homestretch.

Btw, I've noticed a pattern in the topics discussed at various times of year in my years on NEFF. In November and December, we put the rods away and proceed to tear each other apart over politics. In January and February we start talking about reservoir levels and snowpack. By the end of February, somebody will have mentioned early black stoneflies. By mid March, we'll be guessing about when the hendricksons appear. This stuff makes the winter easier to take.