8-15 IAT Pioneer

 A meager snowpack coupled with early melting and the on-going siege of scorching temperatures means the natural flow water to which Pioneer Irrigation District is entitled was quickly exhausted.  That forced Pioneer to begin using its water stored in the Boise River reservoirs much earlier than normal to supplement river flows.

The Pioneer Board of Directors along with Director Mark Zirschky have the District focused on providing enough water to farmers to save the harvest of crops that are in the ground.  But that strategy means Pioneer will have exhausted most if not all of its storage water from reservoirs by the end of this irrigation season. That will result in little or no carryover water will be available to serve as water supply insurance next year. Here is Zirschky: “It has definitely shortened the growing season for farmers. They have changed the crops that they are growing based on water supplies of that has changed the game a lot for them. I would say the biggest impact will be to the ag community and a lot of the folks that grow late-season crops are either not growing them or looking for alternative water sources to grow them.”