Photographs of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Colorado Snow Survey Program

The purpose of the Natural Resources Conservation Service's Snow Survey Program is to provide mountain snowpack data and water supply forecasts for the western United States. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) operates under the U.S. Department of Agriculture and was known as the Soil Conservation Service prior to 1994.

As the West and its rivers were developed during the late nineteenth century, information on water supplies became increasingly important. The first systematic snow survey in the region was taken in 1909 in the Sierra Nevada by Dr. James Church. The intent of a snow survey is to measure snowfall and predict spring runoff, so is of great assistance to water managers as well as flood predictions. After a severe drought in the western U.S., Congress passed legislation funding a federal Snow Survey Program in 1935 as part of the Bureau of Agricultural Engineering. In 1939 the program became part of the Soil Conservation Service.

The availability of reliable data enables effective management of water based on spring runoff and benefits both agricultural and recreation sectors. Manual snow surveying methods remain in use today, even as developments in technology assist in provide fully automated measurements. In 1977, the first SNOTEL (SNOpack TELemetry) site was built and more frequent data became available from certain locations. There are now more than 850 SNOTEL sites across 12 western states and Alaska.

Colorado's network of snow survey courses dates to the early 1930s with Ralph Parshall as one of the state's earliest snow survey supervisors. The Colorado Snow Survey Program includes nearly 100 manually sampled snow courses and over 100 SNOTEL stations. There are also currently 53 field offices that report to the state office in Denver.