April 8, 2016
CapitalPress.com
5
Water
Drought officially vanishes from Washington landscape
Evergreen State
justifies nickname
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
After a winter that defied
expectations, Washington on
March 31 became the only
one among 11 Western states
completely free of drought,
according to the U.S. Drought
Monitor.
Climatologists predicted
El Nino would cause a warm
and dry winter in the Pacif-
ic Northwest, making likely
a second-straight “snowpack
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
The Yakima River flows past Yakima, Wash. in this file photo.
Meteorologists say no part of Washington state is in drought for the
first time in years.
drought.” Officials foresaw the
water shortage that affected
farmers throughout the state
last summer deepening.
While temperatures state-
wide were warmer than nor-
mal, reservoirs and mountain
snowpacks are generally above
average. Long-term moisture
deficits, particularly deep in
southeast Washington, have
been made up.
In a summary of crop con-
ditions nationwide, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture
reported March 29 that some
Washington farmers were de-
laying tilling, spraying and
fertilizing because of overly
saturated soils. “Few fields
were dry enough to start field
work at the end of March,” ac-
cording to the USDA.
Washington State Assistant
Climatologist Karin Bumbaco
said Washington’s winter has
given something researchers
to study.
“The scientific communi-
ty is looking into it,” she said.
“The forecasts were wrong in
terms of precipitation, and
we’re grateful for that.”
Washington was last
drought-free on Dec. 31,
2013. Even then, 82 percent
of the state was “abnormal-
ly dry,” according to the
drought monitor, a weekly re-
port by the National Drought
Mitigation Center in Lincoln,
Neb.
Now, only 7 percent of the
state, a band along the Oregon
border that stretches across
eight Eastern Washington
counties, is “abnormally wet.”
“I expect that to go away,”
said Bumbaco, a contributor
to the drought monitor.
Washington’s
2015
drought was caused by a low
snowpack followed by the
hottest summer on record. By
July 7, the entire state was in
a drought.
The drought peaked in
late August, with 85 percent
of Washington in “extreme
drought.” Two-thirds of the
state was still in extreme
drought at the start of the wa-
ter year, Oct. 1.
As late as Nov. 10, the
entire state was in at least a
“moderate drought.”
Idaho and Oregon also
have shown significant im-
provements since Oct. 1.
Oregon’s
Weather uncertainty dictates continued
Owyhee district starts water
ing to reach into the 70s.
improved
need to conserve water, Calif. officials say By Capital SEAN Press ELLIS
“It will take seven to 10
days
for the water to get clear
HEARDEN
water outlook By Capital TIM Press
ONTARIO, Ore. — Water to the end of the system,” Corn
has started flowing into the said. “I think everybody will
holding steady SACRAMENTO — Cali-
Owyhee Irrigation District’s be ready for it by the time it
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
Oregon’s snowpack and
summer water supply out-
look remain much improved
over last year, according
to the USDA’s Natural Re-
sources Conservation Ser-
vice in Portland.
Snow survey supervisor
Scott Oviatt said a couple
of hot days — temperatures
on April 6 and 7 were fore-
cast to reach the low 80s —
shouldn’t pose too much of
a problem. A lengthy stretch
of warm days, however,
would be a different matter.
As of April 6, every river
basin in the state was above
average for precipitation,
with measurements running
106 percent to 128 percent
of normal for this time of
year.
The amount of water con-
tained in the snow hasn’t
quite kept pace, with snow
water equivalents ranging
from 74 percent to 107 per-
cent of normal.
fornia’s near-normal snowpack
this year could be the best the
state sees for awhile, meteorol-
ogists say.
One of the strongest El Ni-
nos on record is weakening
quickly and could shift to a La
Nina by next winter, bringing
more uncertainty to much of
California in terms of snowpack
and rainfall.
Such a shift “is actually fairly
common,” said Michelle Mead,
a National Weather Service
warning coordinator in Sacra-
mento, noting that La Nina pat-
terns typically favor above-av-
erage precipitation in the Pacific
Northwest and Northern Cali-
fornia.
“But just because it’s typical
doesn’t mean it’s a slam dunk,
just like for El Nino,” Mead
said.
The federal Climate Pre-
diction Center puts the chanc-
es of a shift to a La Nina by
next fall at 50 percent, but
“considerable uncertainty re-
mains,” the agency noted in a
report. While a La Nina could
help Northern California’s
key reservoirs, much of the
Courtesy of Calif. Dept. of Water Resources
California Council on Science and Technology Fellows Dan Brum-
baugh, John Thompson and Sarah Carville join Frank Gehrke,
state Department of Water Resources snow surveys chief, at the
fourth manual snow survey March 30 at a mountain station about
90 miles east of Sacramento.
rest of the state could remain
dry.
With more uncertainty loom-
ing, state officials are urging
Californians to enjoy the snow-
capped mountains and full res-
ervoirs they’re seeing this spring
but continue to conserve water
for an ongoing drought.
In his fourth manual snow
survey of the season March
30, state Department of Water
Resources snow surveys chief
Frank Gehrke found the snow
water content at Phillips Station,
about 90 miles east of Sacra-
mento, to be 97 percent of nor-
mal for the date. Statewide, the
snowpack in the Sierra Nevada
is 87 percent of average.
As April 1 is considered to
be the peak for snowpack be-
fore higher spring temperatures
cause the snow to melt, con-
ditions now are about as good
as they’ll get this year, officials
cautioned.
“This was a dry, dusty field
last year, so it’s a big improve-
ment from last year,” Gehrke
told reporters at Phillips Sta-
tion after conducting his sur-
vey, the results of which were
consistent with other manual
snow survey sites around the
state.
400 miles of canals, laterals
and ditches a week earlier than
planned.
OID board members decid-
ed to start the system on April
4 rather than April 11 in part
because persistent high winds
have dried soils and a lot of
farmers have already plant-
ed, said district manager Jay
Chamberlin.
“We figured if we waited
until the 11th, we would be be-
hind the eight ball,” he said.
OID provides irrigation wa-
ter for 1,800 farms and 118,000
acres in Eastern Oregon and
part of southwestern Idaho.
OID board member and
farmer Frank Ausman said
there are spots on the system
near Adrian with lighter soils
that dry out quicker than other
soil in the area.
“Those guys have a lot
planted and they’re needing a
drink,” he said.
That area near Adrian didn’t
receive some of the rainstorms
other areas did, said farmer
and OID board member Bruce
Corn.
Temperatures are also start-
comes.”
The board set the 2016 allot-
ment for OID patrons at an ini-
tial 3 acre-feet but it’s expected
to increase as the Owyhee Res-
ervoir continues to fill.
The board opted not to in-
crease the allotment during its
March 30 meeting, Chamberlin
said, in part because reservoir
in-flow levels decreased a little
bit recently as cooler tempera-
tures slowed the pace of snow
melt.
Corn said board members
are conservative on where they
set the allotment.
“It’s easy to raise it but if we
over-allocate and then have to
lower it, that would be difficult
on people who have already
made plans,” he said.
Corn anticipates the allot-
ment will be increased April
19 during the board’s regular
monthly meeting but he said
it’s too soon to say whether
patrons will receive their full
4 acre-foot allotment.
“I think everybody knows
the allotment will be increased
some amount. How much still
remains to be seen,” he said.
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