Despite dry winter months, eastern Idaho should have plenty of water this year - East Idaho News
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Despite dry winter months, eastern Idaho should have plenty of water this year

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IDAHO FALLS — This summer is poised to be one of the best in recent Idaho history because water will be flowing in abundance.

A good winter last year and some higher elevation snowpack this winter is responsible for that.

Lyle Swank, Water Master for Idaho District 1, tells EastIdahoNews.com strong water management is key to making the most of every drop of water for farmers and residents.

Water in the lakes and streams, according to Swank, is like a checking account and the reservoirs are like a savings account.

“You want to use your checking account rather than savings,” he said.

Carryover water storage is well above normal and probably the highest since the fall of 2011, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service Idaho Water Supply Outlook Report.

The snowpack got off to a good start in September with storms in the high countries of Idaho and Wyoming. November rains followed by a dry December slowed things down. But January has seen a pick up of more snowpack.

The best water outlook in the state is in the Upper Snake region, which has the highest current snowpack at 114-percent of normal, according to the report. That’s followed by near normal snowpacks in northern Idaho, Salmon, Big Lost, Little Lost and Henry’s Fork basins.

Water officials said to keep in mind that this winter is only half over, and time will tell as to whether snowpack continues to build or things get a little dry.

“Much more snow is needed in the second half of winter to maintain the normal snow levels in northern Idaho and increase the snowpack in central and southern Idaho to more respectable levels,” the report said. Weather patterns predict wetter conditions coming our way.

At present, regional reservoirs are at above average levels, but the report said that if “snowpacks and projected streamflow volumes remain below normal, above normal reservoir storage will be critical to make up the difference and should help to provide adequate irrigation supplies in most areas.”

Streamflow forecasts are also good, at 125-percent in the headwaters streams of the Snake River in Wyoming, Pacific Creek and Buffalo Fork.

Recharging Plan

Wesley Hipke, Idaho Water Resource Board Recharge Project Manager, explained that southeast Idaho boasts one of the biggest continuous aquifer systems in the world, which makes it all the more critical to manage it closely.

Since the 1950s, groundwater in the region has been dropping due to the nature of the up and down precipitation typical of Idaho, plus no comprehensive water management plan, according to Hipke.

That all changed in 2009, when the state got involved and different water entities banded together to make the aquifer management plan happen. The ultimate goal is to recharge what has been lost.

Recharging is a term that means pumping water out of the reservoir and putting it into the underground the water system.

“We want to take excess water that would have otherwise left the state and pump back into our system,” Hipke said.

Water officials estimated it would take an average of 250,000 acre feet per year to build the water system back up to what it once was. Idaho sees many dry years so they aren’t able to reach that average every year.

“On a dry year, the most I can put in is 150,000 acre feet,” Hipke said. “On wet years, it’s really important recharge.”

Before coming to Idaho, Hipke worked in a similar position in Arizona, where the recharging system has been in place for about 20 years. Arizona is on the forefront of recharging, but he said even in the short years Idaho has been recharging and has caught up tremendously. That result can be chalked up to a good plan and many people doing their part to make it happen.

“The Idaho Water Resource Board invested a lot of money in developing the recharge infrastructure. We partnered with canal and irrigation companies in developing this recharge program,” he said.

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