Dear Johnnie >> We live near McIntosh Lake. Why is the water level still so low, right now, at the end of May?

— Concerned Neighbor

Hi Johnnie >> Sailors here know May and June can be the best sailing months on Union Reservoir. But there’s little boating, and now swimming is delayed there, because water levels are so low still.

I thought it was a near-average snowpack year, and the runoff has been early; so what gives? Is this related to climate change somehow, or the new Chimney Hollow Reservoir? Can we expect this problem more often in the future? Thanks for your sleuthing.

— A Frustrated Sailor

Dear Concerned and Frustrated >> To address your vexations, I talked to Ken Huson, Longmont’s water resources manager. He has helped me before to understand the network of water delivery in our area.

For Union and McIntosh, I learned, the reasons for these low levels are the same: low early-season runoff and low priority.

Early-season runoff, Huson said, is runoff from snow up to about 9,000 feet. This runoff, which Huson said usually peaks in mid-May, was lower than usual this year, with the St. Vrain River running 25% to 50% of normal. Thus, local lakes didn’t get their usual early start on filling.

Late-season runoff — from the mountains above 9,000 feet — begins in mid-May and typically peaks June 10-12, Huson said. This surge, along with recent steady rains, is good news. Canals are running high and reservoirs are filling — except some reservoirs are the last to fill. Two of those are Union and McIntosh.

“In the case of (water) storage, the very first reservoirs that were built get to fill (first),” Huson said.

Pleasant Valley Reservoir, aka Terry Lake, is the most senior lake in the Longmont area, he said. Foothills Reservoir is the least senior and is the lowest priority.

Just above Foothills on this priority list is McIntosh. Just above McIntosh is Union, which has already started to fill. Huson said late last week that Union was at 7,400 acre feet of water, up from 6,400 a week earlier.

But there’s a long way to go. “To be full, (Union) needs about another 5,000 acre feet,” Huson noted. He was optimistic but noted that “there’s no guarantee it will fill.”

And that brings us to McIntosh.

“The real problem,” Huson said, “is that by the time Union gets full, there might not be any water left for McIntosh.”

So, Frustrated, you might get what you’re looking for later this month.

Concerned, what you see might be what you get for the rest of the season, barring much higher-than-usual rainfall.

The good news for everyone, however, is this:

“Button Rock (Ralph Price Reservoir), our primary drinking water supply, has now come into priority,” Huson said. “It should be full by the end of next week. It looks so much better than it did three weeks ago.”

Hi, Johnnie >> Thanks for last Monday’s column. Like you, I have been exiting Home Depot the “back way” for some time.

Can you get any comments from The Powers In Charge regarding the new right turn only median at that entrance? The lanes seem incredibly narrow, and the tire rub marks are evidence I’m not the only one who probably thinks so. I don’t envy the bigger trucks that have to turn in there. IMHO, a redo is in order.

— Cringing on Behalf of My Tires

Hi, Cringing >> Thanks for the follow-up question.

I checked with TPIC and heard back from Josh Sherman, engineering administrator with the city.

“The splitter island was built for passenger vehicles,” he wrote in an email. “It appears that semi-trucks, with commercial deliveries for Home Depot/Discount Tire, were still trying to use this entrance/exit after the splitter island was initially constructed last month — causing the tire marks on the concrete curbing of the new island. It appears that commercial drivers are learning to use Lykins Gulch Road and Dry Creek Drive to make their deliveries now.”

Sherman said that the width (10-12 feet) is “enough for most vehicles … and may also accommodate larger emergency vehicles.”

— Send questions to johnnie@times-call.com.