Skip to main content
Arizona Department of Water Resources Logo

Arizona Department of Water Resources

Protecting & enhancing Arizona’s water supplies for current and future generations.

Search form

  • About Us
    • ADWR Strategic Plan and Annual Reports
    • Mission - Values
    • History of the Department
    • Arizona Water Facts
    • Small Business Bill of Rights
    • Career Opportunities
  • How Do I?
    • Apply For
      • Change of Ownership
      • New Well
      • Permit
      • Statement of Claimant, Assignments, Amendments
      • Well Driller's License
      • Funding Opportunities
    • Locate
      • A Surface Water Right
      • A Well
      • Statement of Claiment
    • Get Data
      • AAWS Interactive Map
      • ADWR Dictionary
      • GIS Data Center
      • Data Queries
      • Groundwater Levels
      • Imaged Records
      • Land Subsidence in Arizona
      • Wells 55
      • Wells Data
    • Pay For
      • Annual Report Fee
      • Invoice
    • Report
      • Complaint or Concerns
      • Water Use
      • Share or Report a Water Level - 3rd Party Water Level Data Portal
      • Report Dry Well Data
      • Civil Rights
    • Find Info On
      • Arizona Reconsultation Process
      • Conservation
      • Colorado River Shortage Preparedness
      • Drought Contingency Planning
      • Laws, Rules, & Policies
      • Public Records Request
      • Pinal Groundwater Supply Updates
      • Public Meetings
      • Public Notices
      • Water Levels
      • Wells
      • Legislative Affairs
      • Lower Hassayampa Sub-Basin Groundwater Model Report
  • ADWR News
    • ADWR News
    • Blog
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Archive
  • Home
  • Programs
    • Active Management Areas
    • Adjudications
    • Assured and Adequate Water Supply
    • Colorado River Management
    • Community Water Systems
    • Conservation
    • Dam Safety
    • Drought
    • Engineering
    • Floodplain Management and Flood Warning
    • Governor’s Water Policy Council
    • Hydrology
    • Irrigation Non-Expansion Area
    • Laws, Rules, & Policies
    • Legislative Affairs
    • Management Plans Work Group
    • Recharge
    • Statewide Planning
    • Rural Programs
    • Surface Water
    • Wells and Permitting
    • Water Banking Authority
    • Water Protection Fund
  • Online Services
    • Annual Water Use Report
    • Application Forms
    • Hydrology Publications (eLibrary)
    • Land Subsidence Maps
    • ADWR Live Queries and Reports
    • Recharge Long-Term Storage Credit Balance
    • Imaged Records
    • eNOI
    • Online Notice of Well Capping
    • Pump Installation Completion Report
    • Online Driller's Log
    • Online Payments
    • Change of Ownership
    • Assured & Adequate Water Supply Pending Applications
    • Water Atlas
    • Surface Water Online Notices
    • Interactive Maps
      • Assured and Adequate Water Supply Interactive Map
      • Community Water System (CWS) Interactive Map
      • Groundwater Site Inventory (GWSI)
      • Well Registry Data (55)
      • GIS Data
  • Contact Us
    • Concerns
    • Human Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Public Records Request
    • Public Media Request

Monsoon 2021: So far, it’s been wet, wild and a valuable part of Arizona’s moisture mix

Monsoon 2021: So far, it’s been wet, wild and a valuable part of Arizona’s moisture mix

Monsoon 2021: So far, it’s been wet, wild and a valuable part of Arizona’s moisture mix

Monsoon 2021: So far, it’s been wet, wild and a valuable part of Arizona’s moisture mix
Published: July 30, 2021

Total precipitation: Daily precipitation data summed from 6/15 to present

Even before the substantial torrents of summer rains over the past week or so finally paused, water and weather experts were acting to contain the public’s excitement about the impact of the monsoon on the Southwest’s long-running drought.

The rainfall is great, they noted. Rainfall in an arid place is almost always a welcome event. But truth be told, summer storms just aren’t drought-killers. Fending off drought – especially the kind of long-running drought the Southwest has experienced -- takes deep winter snowpack in the region’s mountainous watersheds. After more than two decades of dry conditions, it would take several consecutive years of deep snowpack to release from drought’s grip.

“It’s helpful, but it also doesn’t solve the problem,” observed ADWR’s Chief Hydrologist Jeff Inwood earlier this week.

So, are we to conclude that summer rainstorms have no meaningful effect on drought conditions? Absolutely not!

Graph comparing #Monsoon2021, 2020 & 2019 to the average (June 15th - Sept 30th)

The near historic lack of monsoon moisture in 2020 contributed substantially to the extraordinarily low rate of runoff into the Colorado River system this spring. A lack of spring rain helped dry out soils to such an extent that those thirsty soils soaked up far more watershed runoff than normal this spring.

As a result, Rocky Mountain region snowpack from the 2020-2021 snow-season peaked at 89 percent of seasonal median. Contrary to the expectation that relatively higher precipitation would result in a larger runoff volume, unregulated inflow into Lake Powell gauged at an utterly abysmal 54 percent of average. The 30-year (1981-2010) average for unregulated inflow into Lake Powell is 10.83 million acre-feet. The forecasted unregulated inflow for Water Year 2021 (Oct. 1, 2020 - Sept. 30, 2021), as of July, according to data from the Bureau of Reclamation, stands at just 3.248 million acre-feet, which is 30 percent of the normal.

A healthy summer rainy season helps mitigate that soil absorption.

Monsoon rain can help rehydrate our soils, which helps get snowmelt runoff into the reservoirs. Also, some portion infiltrates into the ground and replenishes the aquifers. Not a lot, to be sure, but some.

“By soaking the soils with these monsoon rains, it will help additional moisture and rains runoff into streams and ultimately into reservoirs,” added Inwood.

In the meanwhile, it doesn’t hurt to revel in the healthy moisture delivery dropped off in recent days by Mother Nature.

Drought tendency outlook for July 15-October 31 2021

Monsoon 2021 rainfall measured at Tucson International Airport set one of several records set this season with 5.88 inches of rain through July 25.

At Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, meanwhile, National Weather Service officials reported 1.67 inches for the month as of July 25, making 2021 the wettest July since 2013 and the 17th wettest on record. Overall the Phoenix Rainfall Index for July 2021 (that is, the average of all the official rain gauges throughout the Valley), stood at 2.66 inches, making July 2021 the wettest month overall in the Valley since October 2018.

Want more Happy Weather Talk? Through July 26, total monsoon rainfall at Sky Harbor was 1.84 inches, which exceeds the combined total rainfall for the 2019 and 2020 monsoon seasons (1.66 inches).

 

waves.png

Waves icon
  • Overview
  • News Articles
  • News Blog
  • Audio Podcasts
  • Video

 

telephone-icon.png

Telephone icon
  • [email protected]
  • (602) 771-8500

 

Follow Us

Contact Info

Arizona Department of Water Resources
1110 W Washington Street Suite 310
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Find in Google Maps
Phone: 602.771.8500 | Fax: 602.771.8689
File a complaint

Newsletter Subscription

Sign up to get breaking news and information about Arizona’s water industry!

Lists*

© 1980 - 2023 Arizona Department of Water Resources - Statements & Policies | Site Map