06/11/07 Looking For Water

Looking for Water. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. The Northwest is a mixed bag when it comes to water this season. Most of Washington has plenty of water for irrigators but Idaho and Oregon irrigators are on notice that the summer of 2007 is likely to be a dry one. The availability of water for irrigation this summer will be a challenge for some farmers and ranchers as a below average winter snowpack has left many areas of Oregon a bit on the short side despite a promising start to the water year back in November. JOHNSON: The early precipitation we got was good for filling up the reservoirs, but it was bad for filling up the other reservoir we depend on, which is the snowfields. Jim Johnson of the Oregon Department of Agriculture says having a strong mountain snowpack and a gradual melt in the spring is critical for the ag industry: JOHNSON: Oregon is a big irrigation state. While we may be wet the vast majority of the year in any given year, Oregon in the summer months is a dry state that requires irrigation. Of course, that's also the growing season. The snow that did fall this winter melted early. And even though the runoff has filled many of the state's reservoirs to near normal, those reservoirs are being drawn down early this year. Eastern Oregon continues to be the critical area of the state and irrigators are on notice that water shortages may exist as the summer wears on. That also creates an even greater need for a good winter snowpack this coming year. Johnson says what snow did fall in the mountains was pretty much gone two weeks to a month early: JOHNSON: We not only had an early snowmelt, we had a rapid snowmelt. It filled up the reservoirs but it didn't allow for the soil moisture to pick up. Reservoirs are full, but there is not a lot to replenish those reservoirs as that's used throughout the summer. Johnson says it is not too late to get some help from the weather in the weeks to come. JOHNSON: Overall, in crops that depend on irrigation just for the growing season, probably a cooler summer- maybe some intermittent rain, especially early in the season. But a hot, dry summer could be real problematic for producers on the east side of the mountains, especially. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.