1-13 IAN Snowpack
Snowpack, where is it, what is it and how do we look for summer? Natural Resources Conservation Service water specialist Ron Abramovich and I have regular conversations every year, this time of the year, because a lack of snow always hangs like the sword of Damocles over agriculture’s head. We have these magnificent mountains around us which I think of as mega water storage units, but then only if it snows. Let’s get the latest from Ron. “Currently for early January buyer snowpacks in the state are in the Upper Snake River basin which are near-normal and then Henry’s Fork falls into 95%. Across central Idaho they decrease into the 50% of average in the Little Loss basin all the way to Boise and Payette and the lowest in the state is Weser which is 40% of normal. What are the implications in terms of the summer and agriculture? Right now, we have a 1-2 punch going. We have low carryover storage in many of the reservoirs across the state plus we have a very low snowpack. Hopefully what we are going to see is a change in the weather later and what we don’t need is that in version to build back up in the second half of this winter.”
