01/23/06 Don`t declare drought over just yet

Idaho is in the middle of its best water year since 1999 but don't declare the drought over just yet. Hal Anderson of Idaho Water Resources is a member of the Idaho Water Supply Committee. ANDERSON "The optimistic part certainly comes from the fact that we are normal to above normal everywhere in the entire state. Second of all the fact that it appears from our longer term forecasts we don't see any major hiccups in the future. In other words it appears that the normal or above normal pattern for both temperature and precip is going to continue." Today most basins in the state have snowpack that is ten to 29 percent above normal. But Anderson and other water committee members say our good snow and rain so far this winter doesn't mean that the five year drought is over. ANDERSON "This could be just a one year event or it could also be the start of a wetter cycle which we're all hoping for." With the December and January moisture it appears that farmers will have enough water this summer for their crops and they won't have the same scarcity problems some of them faces over the past couple of years. The Water Supply Committee will meet in mid-February to update their forecasts for snowpack and streamflows. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott