‘It’s been tough’: Idaho farmers concerned about low snowpack

MERIDIAN (KIVI) — Idaho saw one of its warmest winters this past season, leaving the state in a snow drought. Low-elevation ranges are seeing some of the lowest snowpack ever recorded, and it’s already having impacts.

According to the Department of Water Resources, Idaho’s snowpack could be the worst the state has ever seen.

“Idaho is looking at the lowest snowpack on record for April 1,” said David Hoekema, a hydrologist with DWR. “The snowpack is our largest reservoir, and so for the first two months of the irrigation season, irrigators typically rely on the melt out of that reservoir to meet irrigation demand.”

Idaho did see average rainfall over the winter season, which helps. Idaho’s reservoir systems are looking good to carry some of the weight, but the snowpack is still a necessity, and farmers are the first to feel it.

“Water used to be considered an infinite resource, and it was everywhere, but as everybody sees now, everybody is affected by drought and lack of water,” said Richard Durrant, a Meridian farmer.

The drought now forces those in the agricultural industry to consider timing, crop rotation and next year’s strategy, especially if we see back-to-back years similar to this one.

“It can be detrimental. We are leaving out a couple hundred acres that we are not planting this year,” Meridian farmer Neil Durrant said. “If we get the same type of winter in spring going into next year, we could be leaving out half the acreage we farm.”