02/01/05 January was very dry in most of Idaho

If it hadn't been for a light rain shower last week that wet the ground Boise would have set a record for the driest January on record. Ron Abromovich of the NRCS says northern and southwestern Idaho snowpack levels are well below normal this winter. The snowpack in the Panhandle and Clearwater basins is the worst in the state at 55 percent of normal. ABROMOVICH "Salmon basin 68 percent of average. The Weiser basin snowpack is 74, Payette basin is 62 and the Boise Basin snow is 66 percent of average. It kicks up a little bit in the Big Wood basin to 79 percent, the Little Wood is 93 percent, Big Lost is 87, Henry's Fork and Teton are 85 percent of average and the Snake basin above Palisades that feeds the upper Snake is 78 percent of average. Willow, Blackfoot and Portneuf basins are 86 percent along with the Oakley basin. Salmon Falls is 90, Bruneau at 92, Owyhee basin is 72 and the Bear River basin has the highest snowpack this year at 108 percent of average for today." Which brings us around to spring runoff. Abromovich is forecasting about a 70 percent normal flow in Idaho's rivers and streams this spring and summer. ABROMOVICH "Farmers should expect similar conditions for surface water supplies to what we've had for the past couple of years." If there's a salvation it will be rain and snow between now and April first but that does seem unlikely. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott