Snowpack is piling up early in the San Juan Mountains, the best start to winter in a couple of years.
Preliminary snowfall totals from the Dec. 22-23 storm in the San Juan Mountains are 24 inches of fresh powder, according to the National Weather Service.
Snotels - devices placed throughout the Dolores Basin measuring snowpack in real time - are reporting above-average snowfall. They are used to predict runoff into McPhee Reservoir, which ended the irrigation season with decent carryover storage.
The El Diente Snotel is at 126 percent of normal, the Lizard Head Snotel is at 110 percent of normal, and the Scotch Creek Snotel is at 121 percent of normal.
Those numbers will climb even higher as updates come in, said NWS meteorologist Andrew Lyons.
Another gift for the district is the award of up to $3 million in grants from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (BUREC) to overhaul several pumping stations in time for the 2016 farming season.
Ruin Canyon, Pleasant View, Cahone, and Dove Creek pumping stations are all having critical infrastructure replaced. The pumps are 25 years old.
Contract bids for electrical work and installation of vertical turbine pumps are being reviewed. Construction is expected to begin in February, and the job is scheduled to be complete by May.
"It's a sweet deal for the district and the farmers," said Vern Harrell of the Cortez Bureau of Reclamation office. "The district has been very successful at applying for and acquiring grants and getting the projects completed."
The district has saved time by contracting out for the work, Harrell said, rather than having the job done by BUREC, which has a large backlog of reservoir improvements across the West.
By paying for some of the costs out of pocket and taking on some upgrades with in-house labor, the district has reaped larger grants and fast-tracked construction.
Last year, the district upgraded the Far View pumping plant using the same strategy.
By tapping into grant funding, the district saves considerably on maintenance costs that otherwise would fall on the farmer in the form of higher water rates.
The funding is from excess hydro-power revenues generated from the Colorado River Basin Storage Project.
