What happens to Dension’s snow after it melts off the Hill?

LAURA LAPHAM, Arts & Life Editor Emeritus—Denison experienced a large amount of snow in February, but over the last week with increasing temperatures this snow has slowly melted away. However, where does the snow go? Well the river, correct? Yes, but the process of the snow melting for spring is an interesting process that shows the power of snowpack when it comes to gage height and the amount of discharge in the spring for a stream. 

Firstly, Denison is within The Raccoon Creek watershed. All the precipitation that falls on Dension drains into Raccoon Creek south of the campus and eventually into the Licking river, and this water will flow down stream eventually making it to the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico. 

When it snows on campus during the winter, whether to the joy or chagrin of residents the precipitation piles high. However, the snow is stored in a way that does not flow through the watershed like rain would when it falls. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, it snowed throughout the month of February with the maximum snow depth being 9 inches on the 20th of February. Shortly after, southern Ohio was hit with a warm spell and the snow began to melt. All that snow that had built up throughout the month is released in a short period of time rather than draining throughout the month, which can be seen in the gage height of the Licking river. This causes high waters, higher than average flow conditions with the max height on the 25th of February being 7.58ft according to the United States Geological Survey, USGS. A few days after the current warm spell had begun the snow melted and had begun to work its way through the soil of the watershed and to the streams themselves. 

Snowmelt is an important part of supplying rivers with necessary water in the spring. For larger rivers in the United states such as the Colorado River, snowmelt is a large part of contributing water to the rivers in the spring. Depending on the snowpack in the winter the more or less total discharge the river will experience that year, and this can be an important factor in water scarcity and supplying people and infrastructure with necessary water.