Western Nebraska could face water limits as Wyoming, Colorado see record-low snowpack

A historically dry winter season in the West is setting the stage for limited water resources this year in Nebraska.

Wyoming and Colorado both set records for warm temperatures and lack of snowfall during the meteorological winter season between December and February. Colorado, along with Oregon and Utah, reported record-low statewide snowpack, according to the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS).

January is typically a month that sees significant snowfall precipitation in the Northern Rockies, but a combination of record-setting warm temperatures and a streak of sunny days, made it hard to get any snowfall to stick around. NIDIS said the start to 2026 is leaving the West “with the worst snowpack in decades.”

“Snowpack is of critical economic and ecological importance to Western communities. Consequential economic impacts have already occurred, especially for the recreation sector and the communities that rely on it. Snowfall deficits will be difficult to make up, but abundant snowfall over the next couple months could reduce impacts,” NIDIS wrote in a Feb. 5 update.

That’s already causing some groups that oversee water resources to consider limits on water allocations later this year. The Wyoming State Engineer’s Office in February issued a “priority administration” order that triggered water restrictions on diversions from the North Platte River and its tributaries. The action shut off water spigots for users in Wyoming that had junior water rights on the Pathfinder and Guernsey reservoirs.

Based on current flows and projected forecasts, the Bureau of Reclamation is expecting an allocation, or a limit to how much water can be pulled, on the North Platte Project. The irrigation system runs from Guernsey, Wyoming, to Bridgeport, Nebraska, and provides water to canals and reservoirs in the Panhandle.

A limit on surface water can affect farmers and ranchers who depend on reservoirs, ditches and streams to feed their cropfields, pastures and cattle tanks. Less surface water can eventually impact groundwater levels, and western Nebraska, especially around Alliance, has had historic issues with diminishing groundwater levels.

The mix of water rights and water storage persists to be an issue out west as drought continues to linger. In a call with Nebraska Public Media News, Dean Edson with the Nebraska Association of Resources Districts said this is a timely reminder that Nebraska needs to continue its fight with Colorado to construct the multi-million dollar Perkins County Canal. Nebraska leaders hope reviving the century-old canal and reservoir plan can give Nebraska better water rights as more dry years develop.

Some major cities in Colorado say water restrictions there are “likely” this year given record-low snowpack. While some of the Rockies could get a decent dusting of snow soon, it may not be enough to give lasting improvements to the states that feed Nebraska’s water systems.

“But we would need just an absolutely remarkable amount of snow to get back toward anything that resembles a median,” Eric Hunt, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln agricultural meteorologist said Monday.

Snow water equivalents for 2026 remain near historic minimums so far this season, according to data from the USDA. These measures can give a clue as to how much water will make its way downstream. There are still several weeks left before the median peak arrives, which should be sometime in April.

Hunt said water levels so far this year look similar to the beginnings of 2002 and 2012.

“Those are basically the years that we’re looking at in terms of still water equivalent in this basin,” Hunt said. “Those are not years that were remotely good for the western portion of the state, so I just want everybody that was in that part of the state that is relying on water from the North Platte basin to be aware that we may be looking at a drastic reduction in what we would normally expect. And again, this is well below where we have been even the last five years.”

The drought outlook for the remainder of the spring and summer doesn’t look good for western Nebraska. Hunt said several models show the western two-thirds of the state remaining dry over the next several months.