CHEYENNE - The moisture accumulation in Wyoming's high country was above average for all but one of the state's river basins on Monday, a sign that Wyoming is in good shape to return to normal runoff levels this spring, water officials said.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service reported that the amount of water stored in Wyoming snowpack was at 117 percent of the 30-year average. At this time last year, the state was at 52 percent of average.

Lee Hackleman, a water supply specialist with the federal agency, said early May is generally a good time to judge how the snowpack's water content, referred to as "snow water equivalent," will translate into runoff.

"It's that time of year when most of the big storms that are going to add to the pack are gone, and we're in our runoff melt period," Hackleman said.

April was drier than average, but good snowfall earlier in the winter put the state on solid footing.

"To be sitting the first week of May at 117 percent of average is a very good predictor of what the runoff will be," said Harry LaBonde, deputy state engineer. "The runoff has actually started to occur on some of the lower drainages, but now is the time that you would expect the river levels to start increasing because it's getting warmer."

Colder temperatures this spring have also helped the state's water supply by retaining snow in the mountains. Peak runoff is expected to come in early to mid-June, and barring a dramatic warm-up, flooding shouldn't be a problem, Hackleman said.

The snowpack's water content will help replenish many of the state's reservoirs, but the average to above-average runoff won't necessarily fill up lakes depleted by years of drought.

John Lawson, Bureau of Reclamation manager for the Wyoming area, said the Seminoe and Pathfinder reservoirs are both about 80 percent empty. The plentiful moisture in the Upper North Platte River Basin - at 115 percent of average on Monday - won't solve that problem.

"We are so depleted that when the snowpack comes in, most of it will be passed on to meet demand between now and Sept. 30," he said. "What little is left over will help replenish, but we'll be nowhere near doing that."

The situation at Buffalo Bill Reservoir near Cody is more encouraging. The reservoir level is above average for this time of year, and the moisture level in the Shoshone River Basin - at 102 percent of average on Monday - will allow managers to deliver needed water and fill the reservoir to capacity, Lawson said.

At Boysen Reservoir near Shoshoni, the bureau expects to meet its release requirements for the summer, Lawson said, but does not expect that the predicted average runoff in the Wind River Basin will totally replenish the reservoir to its full level.

The storms that covered northeast Wyoming in snow on Thursday and Friday pushed snow-water levels in the Belle Fourche River drainage to 240 percent of average, according to Monday's report.

"It will certainly be good for the range conditions (in that area) and will enhance stream flows as well," LaBonde said.

The Upper Green River Basin had the state's lowest moisture accumulation at 94 percent of average, but that was still up considerably from this date last year, when it was at 47 percent.