Sanpete County is heading into spring with some of the weakest mountain snow conditions in the state after Utah posted its lowest April 1 snowpack on record, according to NRCS data.

The agency reported that 2026 was the lowest April 1 snow water equivalent measured statewide since recordkeeping began around 1930.

The local picture was just as bleak in Sanpete County. NRCS reported the San Pitch River Basin at 0% of median snowpack on April 1, down from 91% at the same time last year. March precipitation in the basin came in at 33% of normal, bringing water-year precipitation from October through March to 73% of median.

For communities tied to Sanpete County’s mountain runoff, the report points to a difficult irrigation and water supply season. NRCS said the April-July forecast flow for Manti Creek was 52% of normal, while the San Pitch basin’s Surface Water Supply Index ranked at the 4th percentile, placing it among the driest outlooks in the state. Gunnison Reservoir was listed at 15% of capacity, down from 44% a year earlier.

The county also sits near another of the state’s most striking indicators. In the recent water outlook report, the NRCS highlighted GBRC Meadows above Ephraim, saying the site showed record-low April 1 snowpack and that its previous record low, set in 1931, was about three times higher than the 2026 value.

Jordan Clayton of the NRCS-Utah Snow Survey reported that Utah’s statewide snowpack deteriorated rapidly in March as warm and dry weather accelerated melt. Statewide snow water equivalent peaked March 9, more than three weeks earlier than normal, then fell to 2.7 inches by April 1, or 19% of median. NRCS said the next-lowest April 1 statewide snowpack year, 2015, was still about five times higher than 2026.

The weak Sanpete outlook extended beyond the San Pitch drainage. In the Lower Sevier Basin, which includes the Sevier River near Gunnison, NRCS reported 0% of median snowpack on April 1. The April-July streamflow forecast for the Sevier River near Gunnison was 61% of normal, and the basin’s Surface Water Supply Index ranked at the 2nd percentile.

NRCS data showed some mixed signals beneath the surface. In the San Pitch basin, soil moisture was reported at 84% saturation, up from 76% a year earlier. Statewide, NRCS said those elevated soil moisture readings reflect unusually early snowmelt and conditions more typical of later spring, even as the snowpack itself collapsed.

NRCS warned that actual runoff could come in on the low side of the forecast range and recommended that water users pay close attention to the drier forecast probabilities, not just the midpoint forecast. For Sanpete County, this means the remaining spring water supply will depend less on mountain snow still on the ground and more on how efficiently the little runoff that stays translates into streamflow and storage.