Pacheco is an assistant snow survey supervisor and Messina is a hydrologist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Armed with a long tube and scales the two men drop down the tube and begin the process of weighing and recording snow measurements.

They are measuring the amount of snow that will eventually help them calculate how much water it will yield.

"The forecast on the east side of the divide, predicting fairly good run off," said Pacheco. "Once you get on the west side of the divide, we're looking at normal to slightly below normal run off."

This has many wondering how could this be when the area has had so much snowfall.

Pacheco says the snow just did not fall in the right places.

"The low elevation snow that we've gotten is going to contribute to soil moisture. We definitely like to see more snow up in the mountains, especially on the west side of the divide," said Pacheco.

Cities like Aurora and Denver would benefit from that as well.

"Our supply is in the high country and the snow pack there," said Lisa Darling, South Platte Basin Manager, with Aurora Water Department. "We're looking to the sky and hoping we'll see more snow up there."

"It's sort of like getting extra money in the bank," said Trina McGuire-Collier, spokesperson for the Denver Water Department, "Just because you got it, doesn't mean that you spend it. If you're really responsible, what you do is you save it for when you really need it, you don't just blow it. We're trying to encourage that attitude among people in Colorado when it comes to their water."

Pacheco, Messina, other employees and volunteers measure more than 100 snow courses across Colorado in the beginning of each month.

Hydrologists will take that data, along with other factors and calculate the possible run off.

Meanwhile, Pacheco is hoping for something many of us may not want to see again at least for while.

"We pray for as many blizzards as we can get."

Additional Resources:
NRCS
Denver Water
Aurora Water