BOISE, Idaho — Possible precipitation this week in the Bear River Basin could augment water supplies there, USDA hydrologist Ron Abramovich said recently.
Still, that potential rain or snow is not enough for what is needed to fully bolster irrigation water supplies, said Abramovich.
“The major jetstream is tracking in the Midwest and east toward Boston,” Abramovich said during an interview after a meeting of the Idaho Water Supply Committee. “So we’re under the high-pressure dome again, and we’re getting missed by most of the storm. We’re just getting a little bit here and there. That’s not enough.”
Abramovich, a water supply specialist, added, “So we really need to get in the storm track the East has been in, and it’s not looking like that’s going to happen.”
Idaho water experts are hoping for stormy days through the end of March to augment the Gem State’s reservoir water supplies in preparation for the upcoming agricultural growing season. They say higher precipitation levels and cooler weather conditions in the near future are needed, noting that if agricultural irrigation opens by April 1, water supplies may be greatly reduced during the growing season in July and August.
“So, once we get into April, then we’ll look and hope for a cool and wet spring because what we don’t want is the snowpack to melt too early,” Abramovich said. “We’d rather have the snowpack stay in the high country longer so we can use it later in the summer (for agriculture).”
Current water volume in storage at Palisades Reservoir is 82 percent of capacity, and the American Falls Reservoir is at 84 percent of its capacity, according to John Hildreth at the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in Burley.
Hildreth said that “we’re probably going to be behind a little bit behind on that April 1 fill date,” for American Falls. He added: “It should be full at American Falls by the middle of April at this point now.”
Hildreth said the Jackson Lake Dam in Wyoming is holding at 200,000 acre feet. Jackson Lake “is currently 76 percent full,” Hildreth said.
“And, you know, as the spring runoff starts, we’ll slowly fill Jackson Lake and try to have it full by the middle of June,” Hildreth said.
How critical is getting significant additional snowpack to Idaho agriculture by the time April rolls around?
“It’s very critical because we saw the dry spell start Feb. 12,” Abramovich said. “And there are a few areas like the Bear River area, that are still getting snow but it’s not a whole lot.”
The Idaho Water Supply Committee is a conglomeration of “federal, state, and local agencies, and interested local parties,” according to Idaho Department of Water Resources staff hydrologist Liz Cresto. IDWR organized the meeting, Cresto said.
Cresto said the Upper Snake River region—from Twin Falls east—currently has “precipitation starting up in the Tetons.”
“I think the Upper Snake does not have as much snow as there was last year, but there’s more carryover in the reservoirs than there was last year,” Cresto said.
Source: Idaho State Journal