I received positive feedback on last months Splashback with larger images. So I'll do the same this month.
The complete Water Supply Reports from Utah and the USDA are at the links below. The Idaho water supply update for June is not out yet.
Utah Water Supply Report (click here) USDA Water and Climate Report (click here).
As of June 1, 2026, Utah has moved into the summer irrigation season with a very limited natural water supply base. Valley precipitation has been adequate overall: statewide year-to-date precipitation at lower elevation SCAN sites was 108% of normal, supported by a very wet October and wet April. Mountain conditions, however, are the controlling issue for summer water supply. Utah’s SNOTEL network showed year-to-date precipitation at only 89% of normal, and NRCS characterized the 2026 snowpack as the worst on record. The snowpack peaked and melted out about a month earlier than normal after below-normal snowfall and a March heatwave, with only minor May storms delaying melt in the small amount of snow that remained.
The practical implication is that Utah entered June with poor high-elevation snowpack carryover, limited late-season natural runoff support, and increasing dependence on stored water. Statewide reservoir storage, excluding Lake Powell and Flaming Gorge, was 68% of capacity compared with 86% at the same time last year. Lake Powell remained very low at 24% of capacity, and NRCS reported that June-July streamflow for the Upper Colorado Basin was forecast at only 20% of average. More than half of Utah’s major basins were below the 10th percentile for the Water Availability Index, and all remaining basins were in the lower half of their historical water availability distribution. In practical terms, conservation remains important even in basins where spring precipitation or reservoir storage appears relatively better.
For the Bear Basin, the picture is mixed but still water-limited. The Bear has fared better than many Utah basins in year-to-date mountain precipitation, with SNOTEL precipitation at 98% of median as of June 1. May precipitation was below normal, at 82% of normal, but depth-averaged soil moisture remained relatively strong at 74% of saturation, essentially unchanged from last year. Reservoir storage in the Bear Basin was 60% of capacity, down from 77% last year. Bear Lake itself was listed at 783 KAF, or 60% of capacity, compared with 76% last year.
The surface-water index data show why the Bear Basin needs to be interpreted carefully. The main Bear Basin Water Availability Index percentile was 49%, essentially near the middle of its historical distribution because Bear Lake storage provides a substantial buffer. But the smaller associated subbasins were much more stressed: Little Bear was at the 6th percentile and Woodruff Narrows at the 9th percentile. This means the main Bear system looks much better than many other Utah basins, but that appearance is heavily dependent on reservoir storage. Smaller tributary and subbasin systems have much less buffer and show clear water-supply stress.
Operationally, I would summarize the Bear Basin as better positioned than much of Utah, but not normal in a practical water-use sense. The snowpack year was poor, natural runoff support is limited, and current conditions depend substantially on stored water, particularly Bear Lake. For the remainder of the summer, the key issues will be how quickly irrigation demand draws down storage, whether monsoonal or other summer precipitation provides meaningful relief, and how much carryover remains going into the next water year. | 
