Release it too late, Hansen explained, and it would flow down the Jordan River the same time the snowmelt came in from the Cottonwood Canyons, creating a flood risk along along the river.

Moderate flood stage is 56 feet. As the river reaches 55 feet ... in and have everything turned around in a couple days," Tim Jordan, owner of Riverfront Live, said in a statement.

Snowmelt, the single biggest predictor of the river's spring flood risk, won't play a big role this year as there wasn't much snow to begin with across the river basin.