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Show Drought n despite April showers By JUDY JENSEN Asst. Managing Editor Although recent storms have helped, water districts are not ready to "backoff" rationing restrictions. "April has been good, but we expected that to happen. In order for us to get out of this drought, we need 140 percent of normal precipitation in May," Ivan Flint, manager of Weber Basin Water Conservancy District, said Monday! Storms during the past five days have increased depths in the upper snow packs between 1.6 and 4.5 inches. in-ches. Hint said. "That has brought our snow pack averages up to 90 percent of normal as of this date." Flint said the recent storms have also increased projections in stream runoff from 50 to 70 percent of normal. "The problem we still face is that the 50 percent water allocation we allowed used up all of the water we had. We have to get some extra in order for us to guarantee culinary water next spring. We're just not ready to back off that 50 percent rationing at this time," he said. Reducing the restrictions and giv ing all water users more water "would certainly make our job a lot easier though," Flint said. Although most customers have been cooperative, some have been very angry about the restrictions, Flint added. ' 'Most people understand that we had no choice, but some just don't want to cooperate. coop-erate. ' Flint said the bottom line on whether rationing will be in effect is the amount of precipitation that will accumulate during May. "If Mother Nature cooperates, and we have an exceptional next few weeks, we may be able to change the restrictions," he said. Flint added that the best thing that could happen would be for the weather to get warm immediately so the snow melts quickly. "If it gets really hot fast, we'll have a big flush that will flow into the storage tanks. When they are full, we'U have water again. But if it warms slowly, the water will percolate per-colate into the ground and will not flow into storage," he said. Flint said a sudden heat wave will not create any danger of flooding. SEE DROUGHT ON A-2 Drought CONTINUED FROM A-l Flint blamed recent news reports for creating confusion in the minds of Davis County water users. He said although April was a good month, it did not solve the entire problem. Merrill Turtle, manager of Bountiful Boun-tiful Water Sub-Conservancy District, agreed with Flint. "What is being said on the radio is confusing. confus-ing. The report that we are 100 per cent of normal is not true. That's only for the month of April, not for the last five years of drought. It's still extremely dry. If we drop the restrictions on irrigation now, we may not have culinary in the future, ' he said. "People just don't understand how serious this problem is. They should drive to Willard Bay where you can still see sandbars poking out of the water," Turtle said. He added that his district has had to turn off water for some customers because they have refused refus-ed to adhere to watering restrictions.' restric-tions.' 'Some people just have their head in the sand and aren't following follow-ing the guidelines," he said. "Anyone who is watering in these current weather conditions is just blatantly wasting water anyway," Tuttle said. None of the south Davis County irrigation water suppliers is changing chang-ing restrictions at this time. Those restrictions appear in a chart on page A-2 of today's Clipper. "It's going to be hard for some, and we wish a change could be made. The moisture we've just received is wonderful, but we've got to hold fast to these restrictions until we see what the near future brings, br-ings, Flint said. |