The dim outlook for the irrigation supply in southwest Idaho this season has brightened somewhat. But many growers in the region will still have to get by on a lot less and the tight situation has already altered many planting decisions.
The Boise Project Board of Control, which supplies water to five irrigation districts in Idaho's Treasure Valley, notified its customers earlier this season that they would receive one foot of water per acre instead of the normal three.
But BPBC increased the allotment by 0.4 of a foot in early June and its customers can now expect to receive 1.4 feet per acre.
Some warm weather in May caused high snowpack to melt, which picked up river flows enough for the district to run off river rights instead of storage, said BPBC Project Manager Tim Page.
"That helped us a lot," he said.
But while water deliveries continue into the middle part of October during a good season for BPBC, project officials hope to make it to the first part of September this year, Page said.
SOURCE: Sean Ellis, Capital Press
http://www.capitalpress.com/newsletter/SE-water-062813