Lake Powell’s water content is up by about 50% compared to last year, and experts say that’s likely because inflows from snowmelt have nearly doubled, as well as increased precipitation.

After a wet winter, the lake saw an increase of almost 3 million acre feet of water compared to July 2022, along with an increase in elevation levels of about 50 feet. That’s higher than initial projections suggested, said Kyle Roerink, executive director of the Great Basin Water Network.

Since March, melting snow has filled Lake Powell with 4.3 million acre feet of water. This means the lake can begin to refresh the depleted reservoirs surrounding it, Roerink said. But that doesn’t mean the drought is over.

“The big winter did provide a little buffer,” he said. “But there’s still going to be a question of whether this will carry us to the summer of 2027, or even the summer of 2026.”

Other environmental aspects besides snowmelt could be affecting water flows, he said, including soil moisture content, evaporation and albedo effects. Unpredictable weather patterns could also change Utah’s water content quickly.

But this summer has given Utah hydrologists and water conservationists an opportunity to figure out how to successfully store water in the coming decades, Roerink said.

“We need to relinquish the 20th century ideas of water management,” he said. “It’s going to be painful, but if we’re not starting adaption now, it’s only going to be more painful.”