Rivers in the Roaring Fork Watershed are flowing 38-82% of normal for this time of year. Despite improvements in other parts of Colorado, the Roaring Fork Watershed remains entrenched in extreme and exceptional drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. One factor that influences this drought model is soil moisture. According to the Drought Data Dashboard, a collaboration across academic, state, and federal drought monitoring programs, soil moisture in the Roaring Fork Watershed is mostly average at shallow depths (0-10 cm), but below average at mid-depths (10-50 cm). A sustained pattern of precipitation will be required to recharge soil moisture at these deeper depths. The more wet soils are heading into winter, the less snowmelt they will absorb during runoff next spring. Releases from Ruedi Reservoir increased by 50 cfs on Tuesday, bringing flows on the lower Fryingpan River to 117 cfs.