BRIGHTON, Colo. — Colorado is experiencing its lowest snowpack on record at just 33% of normal statewide, forcing some local farmers to reduce their plantings and brace for severe water shortages.
At Petrocco Farms, a fourth-generation family farm, owner Joe Petrocco is raising the red flag as snow on the distant peaks remains nearly non-existent.
"Water is the is the key to life on the farm," Petrocco said. "It's what we all revolve around."
The farm relies heavily on water to grow a variety of crops.
"Lettuce and cabbage and other leafy greens like mustards, turnips, collards and kale, and that's our specialty. But we also do bulb onions, green beans and sweet corn," Petrocco said.
In at least one area where onion seeds are planted, the seeds sit in dry soil. Their growth has been placed on hold as Petrocco waits for moisture.
"We're going to raise the red flag as of probably today," Petrocco told Denver7's Veronica Acosta Thursday.
Petrocco said the lack of water is forcing immediate changes to operations.
"We're going to go ahead and reduce our plantings as of today," Petrocco said.
Denver7 Chief Meteorologist Lisa Hidalgo said the record low snowpack is unlike anything Colorado has experienced before.
"This is huge. I mean, snowpack is what is going to then feed our our rivers and and in the water that the metro area gets, you know, both to the east and the west of the continental divide," Hidalgo said.
Peter Goble, assistant state climatologist at the Colorado Climate Center at Colorado State University, agrees.
"For the state of Colorado, it means that our water resources are likely to take a pretty large hit," Goble said. "Our snowpack typically peaks around the second week of April, but this year it peaked the second week of March, and we've already, due to this heat wave that we've experienced, we've already lost 40% of our snow pack."
For farmers like Petrocco, the focus is now on hoping and praying for water in any form.
"We're hoping for a drawn out rain event," Petrocco said. "It's the key to our production."
Petrocco also told Denver7 the low snowpack means financial strain for the farm.
"We're not making really any profits," he said. "It's been some time, so we just go right back into debt. Right now, would say we're hundreds of thousands of dollars already down in the debt."
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Petrocco said they'll have to rely on their early crops to help sustain them until the fall.
"We get our loans paid off, keep the lights on," Petrocco said. "We're going to need some sort of relief, whether it's rainfall or federal disaster relief, to keep us afloat for the next year."
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