Never underestimate the effects of monsoonal rains.
The storms that have swept through La Plata County in recent weeks more than doubled the amount of water in Vallecito and Lemon reservoirs this month.
Reports from the Bureau of Reclamation show the reservoirs stood at 21 and 14 percent of capacity, respectively, on Aug. 31. As of Thursday, they had swelled to 47 and 32 percent, respectively.
In perhaps more meaningful terms, Vallecito Reservoir held 26,251 acre-feet of water Sept. 1 and 58,538 acre-feet two days ago. Lemon Reservoir held 5,722 acre-feet Sept. 1 and 12,811 acre-feet Thursday.
An acre-foot is 326,000 gallons, or enough water to cover a football field almost one foot deep.
The amount of water in Lemon on Aug. 31 barely reached the amount in the basin a month earlier. Vallecito held 10 percent less on Aug. 31 than on July 31.
The capacity of Vallecito Reservoir is 125,400 acre-feet. Lemon Reservoir can hold a maximum of 39,790 acre-feet.
Thunderstorms began peppering La Plata County in early July. By the middle of the month, they had dumped enough moisture to eliminate fire restrictions above 8,500 feet elevation and reduce restrictions from Stage 2 to Stage 1 at lower elevations.
Thunderstorms, rain and lightning that triggered wildfires followed, but not until Sept. 1 did it rain in earnest.
Powerful storms Sept. 18 and 22 carrying rain and golf-ball size hail wreaked havoc in the Animas Valley north of Durango and in the southwest corner of La Plata County.
Scattered power outages plagued a wide area of the valley.
Tons of mud, boulders and debris were loosened along the red cliffs east of East Animas Road (County Road 250). The detritus flooded homes and piled up 5 to 6 feet high on East Animas Road.
On the other side of the valley, culverts were overwhelmed, causing water to flood a section of U.S. Highway 550 north between mile markers 24 and 26. Traffic was detoured to Animas View Drive.
Mountain Madness Pub at Highway 550 and County Road 203 received a double whammy when mud slides from the cliff to the west entered the north and south entrances of the establishment.
Near Marvel, hail ripped through siding on houses, shattered vehicle windshields and blew leaves from trees and bushes.
Commercial and private crop growers around the county suffered damage to their plants.
In contrast to Vallecito and Lemon reservoirs, McPhee Reservoir in Montezuma County and Navajo Reservoir, mostly in New Mexico, saw little percentage growth in September.
McPhee Reservoir held 163,368 acre-feet Sept. 1 and 173,792 acre-feet on Thursday, increasing from 42 to 46 percent of capacity.
Navajo Reservoir held 864,050 acre-feet on Sept. 1 and 923,390 acre-feet two days ago, increasing from 51 to 54 percent of full.
The capacity of Navajo Reservoir is 1.7 million acre-feet, that of McPhee, 381,000 acre-feet.
daler@durangoherald.com
