This year, the snowpack throughout Colorado was record-setting, as in beyond being way off the charts. In a late-June story, the Washington Post reported the snowpack was over 4,000 percent above normal. And a good deal of that record snow will eventually makes it way to the rivers throughout the state.

One of the southern Colorado benefactor to all that natural largess has been the Arkansas River. Flows in the Arkansas averaged well over 4,000 cubic feet per second through June and peaked at nearly 5,500 cfs on June 15. A year earlier, flows were barely over 500 cfs.

The high water has been something of a mixed blessing. It’s eradicated a state-wide drought and reduced the specter of wild fire to just about nil. It’s been an epic season for rafters and kayakers, too. But through mid-July, there’s been 16 drownings attributed to the big runoff, three in the Arkansas.