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DENVER (AP) -- Colorado's snowpack continues to lag but the state is still benefiting from a wet 2011.

The National Resources Conservation Service said Monday that the statewide snowpack was 71 percent of average as of Jan. 1. That's the driest New Year's since 2002, which turned out to be a very dry year, and the fourth lowest in the last 30 years.

The snowpack is about half the level it was at the beginning of last year. Conditions are the worst in western and southwestern Colorado.

Reservoir levels in most parts of the state are close to or above average because of last year's big snowpack. The exception is the Rio Grande basin, where reservoir levels are 64 percent of average.

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