Drought Crisis
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson with today’s Fruit Grower Report. Based on the “alarming” news we’re hearing about the low snowpack in the mountains and another drought year lately, should we be panicking?
Cliff Mass, Atmospheric Sciences Professor at the University of Washington, says not from his perspective, at least yet …
MASS … “Well, one thing I would point out is, they said the same thing last year and how terrible things were in this terrible drought. If you look at the numbers, the agricultural productivity for the state last year was not a bad year. So, that’s a warning right there.”
But if you look at the current state of the reservoirs, Mass says it’s not quite as bad…
MASS … “Well, I mean, the point is, basically, this year is normal precipitation. It’s just that it was more of it came as rain than snow than normal. And so, we had a lot of liquid water and the Bureau of Land Management and others have been very wise and they have saved a lot of the water.”
The snow melt, Mass says usually runs until mid to late
June, but the reservoirs are in much better shape this year than what we typically see this time of year …
MASS … “Normally you don’t start as high as we are right now. And so now we are starting so high that even with less melting we should still be pretty filled up in June, unless something strange happens.”
And Mass says the forecast in the foreseeable future doesn’t look abnormally dry.
