Role of snowmelt in filling largest Western reservoirs

The West's 21 biggest reservoirs tend to be very dependent on the snowpack. Each circle is sized according to the reservoir's capacity and shaded according to the percentage of storage derived from snowmelt.

Graphic showing data related to snowpack and runoff study

(Please use a modern browser to see the interactive version of this visualization)

Chart: Mitch Tobin/The Water DeskSource: Li, D., et al. (2017). How much runoff originates as snow in the western United States, and how will that change in the future? Geophysical Research Letters, 44(12), 6163–6172.Get the dataEmbed Download imageCreated with Datawrapper