Disappearing Snowpack

 Water in Idaho may seem plentiful now but there may be big time changes ahead.  Water researchers across the state are collaboratively embarking on a three-year hydrologic study that will contribute to a greater understanding of the altered distribution of winter snowpack, one of the greatest climatic impacts on the semi-arid mountains of the western U.S.

 A 3-agency research team recently received $500,000 from the National Science Foundation to support their effort.

 According to a 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the western U.S. will experience decreased snowpack, shifts in timing and volume of runoff, and increased evapotranspiration, all factors leading to the reduction of precious water resources in the summer season when they are needed the most. Recent research in southern Idaho strongly indicates that these changes have occurred in the past 50 years.

 Timothy Link, an Associate Professor of Forest resources in the University of Idaho's College of Natural Resources, is one of the lead researchers and has grave concerns: “A bunch of recent work has shown that the timing of snow melt runoff in the semi-arid mountains of Northern and Southern Idaho has actually advanced by about 4 weeks since the middle of the last century. One of the things that we’re also concerned about is a slight shift in the storm tracks, trending a little bit more to the North which would actually leave Southern Idaho a little bit drier. Really when we need water for agriculture, we don’t have it available in the drier summer months. By having the snow come of earlier it’s like losing a physical reservoir.”