Dan Murray, a water supply specialist with the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service, said snowpack throughout New Mexico's northern mountains is at average or above-average levels. Snowpack refers to the amount of water from snowfall that ends up in streams and reservoirs after the snow melts in the spring. With the exception of areas in the Gila Mountains of southwestern New Mexico, Murray said snowpack is up to 110 percent of average in some places. The drought picture is looking better. Richard Armijo, a snow surveyor with the conservation service, said snowpack is tracked through a combination of several measures throughout the state, including the amount of water in rivers and streams, a measurement of snowfall and a device called a snow pillow.
Equipment then measures the amount of pressure fallen snow exerts on the pillow.
Armijo said those measurements are more accurate than merely measuring snow depth in determining the water content of the snow. But while the conservation service is able to give an accurate picture of water in streams and reservoirs, Armijo said information about closed basins like the Estancia Basin is less precise. The service doesn't measure recharge of underground aquifers by melting snow flowing into closed basins, he said. The New Mexico Office of the State Engineer does measure well depths in closed basins, but it doesn't really measure the impact of weather on those basins, said Nancy Cunningham, a water resource supervisor for the office. Cunningham said she measures well depths in the Estancia Basin each January, but those numbers don't really reflect the amount of recharge.