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4 CapitalPress.com June 10, 2016 Water Warm temps prompt early melt, impacts streamflow Warm temperatures in April and May have caused early snowpack melt across the Pa- cific Northwest, prompting con- cerns in some areas about the availability of water late in the growing season. Idaho Sean Ellis/Capital Press file A sugar beet field near Ontario, Ore., is irrigated in this file photo from June 11, 2015. Owyhee Irrigation District patrons will receive a full allotment of irrigation water this year. Owyhee Irrigation District growers will get full allotment By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press ONTARIO, Ore. — For the first time since a lingering drought began to grip this area four years ago, Owyhee Irrigation District patrons will receive a full allotment of irrigation water this year. “It’s really a positive thing for the area,” said Bruce Corn, a farmer and OID board member. “It’s a tremendous change from what we’ve faced the past three years.” The Owyhee Reservoir provides irrigation water for 1,800 farms and 118,000 acres of ground in Eastern Oregon and southwestern Idaho. OID patrons receive 4 acre-feet of water during a good water year. But due to the effects of a sustained drought, they only received 1.7 acre-feet last year and 1.6 acre-feet in 2014. Because of good snow- pack, farmers in this area anticipated receiving 4 acre- feet this year but the OID board chose to be conserva- tive and not allocate the full amount until the water was actually in the reservoir. The board set the allot- ment at a tentative 3 acre- feet in March, raised it to 3.8 acre-feet in April and then 4 acre-feet in late May. OID Manager Jay Cham- berlin said a major storm last month dumped a lot of snow in the valley and snowmelt was also high- er than anticipated, which increased in-flows into the reservoir. “Those two things com- bined gave us an additional 25,000 to 30,000 acre-feet of water that was somewhat of a surprise to us,” he said. “It really gave us a shot in the arm.” The focus now shifts to trying to ensure there is a decent amount of carryover water left in the reservoir to provide a buffer heading into the 2017 season, Corn said. There was only 5,000 acre-feet of carryover wa- ter left in the reservoir at the end of the 2015 water season, a drop in the bucket compared to the reservoir’s 715,000 acre-foot capacity. “The hope now is that we can carry over a little water into next year so we don’t start at zero like we did last year,” Corn said. That means it’s doubtful that any excess water will be sold this year, he said. In years when there is am- ple water, OID patrons can purchase excess water above their 4 acre-foot allotment. “We’ve been operating off of the bottom of the tank here,” Chamberlin said in regard to the fact the system has ended the past two sea- sons with close to no carry- over water. “We want to get to the point where we are operating off the top again. It’s going to take some time to get there.” The reservoir has about 350,000 acre-feet of carry- over water following good water years. Malheur County On- ion Growers Association President Paul Skeen said even 150,000 to 180,000 acre-feet of carryover water would provide farmers some breathing room heading into 2017. “Going into next season with even 150,000 acre-feet would be a whole lot better than what it has been,” he said. Idaho managers say stream- flow levels are peaking ahead of normal, and the Upper Snake Reservoir system won’t fill to its capacity this year. However, crops are also progressing ahead of schedule, and they still anticipate an ade- quate water supply for irrigators throughout most of the state, though the Natural Resources Conservation Service predicted in its June 1 water supply out- look report that potential short- ages may occur by season’s end in the Big Wood, Big Lost, Little Lost and Oakley basins. Snowpack was average or better throughout most of the state, with the Bruneau and Salmon Falls basins having al- ready received more than their normal precipitation for the entire water year. The driest ar- eas throughout the water year — Henry’s Fork and the Snake Basin above Palisades Reservoir — have still received 93 percent and 95 percent of their average precipitation respectively. But water managers say the snowpack has melted prema- turely and peak flows have ar- rived a couple of weeks earlier than normal, shifting demand to storage. Temperatures were above average in both April and May. June temperatures have been unusually hot, with record highs of 97 degrees in Boise and 88 degrees in McCall set on June 5, according to the National Weather Service. “Because of the hot weath- er, that’s pushing the rest of the high elevation snow out,” said Ron Abramovich, NRCS water supply specialist. “The Big Lost River just peaked June 6, and most streams will be in residu- al.” Lyle Swank, watermaster for the Upper Snake water district, aid his system is 84 percent full, and he anticipates it will peak at about 90 percent full. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re close to 10 percent, or 400,000 acre-feet, short on a 4 million acre-foot storage sys- tem,” Swank said. “I think (wa- ter users) will have to do some rentals and other transactions to get the water where it needs to go, but I don’t see widespread John O’Connell/Capital Press Steve Howser, general manager of Aberdeen-Springfield Canal Co., watches as the start of his canal system begins to fill after opening the gates on April 11. Howser anticipates he’ll have sufficient water to make it through the season, with some carryover to spare, though he probably won’t allocate the full amount to share holders. problems at this stage.” Steve Howser, general man- ager of southeast Idaho’s Ab- erdeen-Springfield Canal Co., said a wet May in his growing area allowed him to significant- ly reduce diversions, which he’s ramped up lately. Howser said his water rights have filled in Jackson and American Falls res- ervoirs, but he’s expecting only 80 percent of his Palisades rights to fill, and anticipates delivering shareholders 85 to 90 percent of their maximum allocations this season. He expects to hit his mark of ending the year with 50,000 acre-feet of carry-over storage. “It’s looking like we’ll have a normal or better year,” Howser said. Brian Olmstead, general manager of Twin Falls Canal Co., gets three-fourths of his water from natural flows. He expects to exhaust his natu- ral-flow rights originating from the Upper Snake by about June 20, which would be a couple of weeks ahead of normal. Olm- stead said supplemental surface water that groundwater users provided this year under a wa- ter call settlement agreement should protect his users. “We won’t drain the storage system this year,” Olmstead said. “Most people will have some carryover storage.” Oregon The final water supply report of the season concludes Oregon creeks and rivers will have be- low normal flows this summer, tightening the amount of water potentially available for irriga- tion, fish and recreation. The USDA Natural Resourc- es Conservation Service in Port- land predicts most streams will be at about 60 percent of normal flow, worse in the southeast cor- ner of the state. The June Water Supply Out- look reflects an up and down year as monitored by the NRCS snow survey team in Portland. In a recap, team supervisor Scott Oviatt said heavy win- ter precipitation helped refill the state’s reservoirs, which dropped precipitously during the drought. “Water year precipitation (measured Oct. 1 to March 31) has been near to above normal across the state, and has boost- ed reservoir levels that were near record low at the end of last summer,” Oviatt said in a prepared statement. “This paints a much better picture for water supply this year, compared to last year when reservoir storage was well below average. How- ever, if the summer is hot and increases demand, water users drawing from reservoir sources could still experience possible water shortages.” Reservoir levels won’t be sustained into the summer by melting snow, because it’s al- ready gone. About half the state’s snow monitoring sites recorded near normal snowfall this past win- ter, but the peak of it occurred one to four weeks earlier than normal, the NRCS report said. Then came an early April heat wave, and the snow at most monitoring sites melted one to three weeks earlier than normal, and up to five weeks early at a few sites. Washington Cascade Range snowmelt was above normal in May, de- pleting the remaining statewide snowpack to 46 percent of nor- mal in the first days of June. Snowpack below 5,000 feet elevation is virtually gone and five mountain reservoirs supply- ing summer irrigation water to 464,000 acres in the Kittitas and Yakima valleys have been full since mid-May. The reservoirs hold 1,065,400 acre-feet of water, one third of what’s needed for annual riverflows and irrigation. The other two-thirds is provided by snowpack. Drawdown of the reservoirs is just beginning and will contin- ue through summer, occasional- ly slowed by cooler weather or rain. Major irrigation diversions on the Yakima River totaled 4,818 cubic feet per second on June 6, which is normal and largely still made up of water being released just to keep the reservoirs from overflowing. Inflow at the five reservoirs was 83 percent of average, re- leases were 112 percent of aver- age and major canal diversions were 103 percent of average on June 6, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. “Diversions collectively are pretty normal. Things look solid right now, but heat snaps or rain storms can increase usage or moderate it,” said Chris Lynch, USBR hydrologist in Yakima. The 46 percent of normal snowpack is a “tricky number because only about 25 percent of our 70 SNOTEL (snowpack telemetry) sites in Washington still have snow on them,” said Scott Pattee, water supply spe- cialist with the U.S. Natural Re- source Conservation Service in Mount Vernon. Those sites are at 5,000 feet elevation and high- er. Little snow is left below that, he said. Yakima, Wash., irrigators cross their fingers By DAN WHEAT Capital Press ELLENSBURG, Wash. — Two big Yakima Basin irriga- tion districts that dramatically LEGAL http://www.pvmi.org ) Request for Proposals: To produce a document that evaluates PVMI’s business practices including financial management, policies/procedures, and board/business operations, and recommends improvements. The work will include a 10-year business plan and a succession plan. Background: In August of 2005, the potato commissions of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho filed Articles of Incorporation to create the Potato Variety Management Institute (a.k.a. PVMI). Incorporated in Idaho as a tax-exempt, non-profit organization (501(c)3), and with the potato commissions as its sole members, PVMI’s stated purpose is “to enhance the agricultural capacity and resources of Idaho, Washington and Oregon for the benefit of their citizens by coordination of potato varietal research programs; management and protection of potato varieties created by state funding; and education of growers, processors and retailers.” The top priorities of PVMI are to ensure intellectual property protection (via the Plant Variety Protection Act), and to collect license and royalty income from users of potato varieties develop by the Northwest Potato Variety Development Program, a cooperative venture of USDA-ARS, the potato commissions, and Land Grant universities in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. PVMI currently manages thirty protected potato varieties, collects license fees and royalties from seed potato producers, and after covering its business costs, returns funds to USDA-ARS and the universities to support potato research at those institutions. Much has changed in the potato industry and research programs since PVMI was incorporated in 2005, and PVMI has accomplished more than the founders anticipated. In light of this change and success, the potato commission members and the PVMI board of directors have decided to embark on a formal planning process to launch PVMI into an even more successful second decade of operation. To respond to this RFP, please provide: • A proposal of no more than 5 pages describing how you would provide the documentdescribed above including a suggested timeline and cost estimate(s). • A description of at least two successful projects you have completed, similar to the one contemplated here. • At least two references from previous clients Deadline for receipt of proposals: June 15, 2016. Send all materials as a single PDF to Jeanne Debons, PVMI Executive Director, at: mailto:jeannedebons@msn.com Proposal review process and timeline: Proposal review will begin immediately after the June 15 deadline, with the aim of the PVMI board of directors selecting the successful consultant during its mid-July board meeting. We anticipate that most of the work of this project will be completed in the fall and winter months when the PVMI board members have more time available to dedicate to PVMI, with a completion deadline of March 15, 2017. Legal-23-2-7/#4 cut water usage last summer because of drought hope to make it through this season with no restrictions. One of them, Kittitas Reclamation District serving 60,000 acres of farmland in the Kittitas Valley, took ad- vantage of record April snow- melt by opening its canals three weeks early on April 1 and capturing 14,000 acre- feet of water that otherwise would have flowed to the ocean unused. “Farmers started applying the water early and it was a form of ground water storage that helped us get a jump on the season,” said Urban Eber- hart, KRD manager. It evened out later demand and was a “rapid adaptive move we were able to make because of the work we’ve done on the Yakima Basin Integrated (Water Resource Management) Plan,” Eberhart said. It underscores the need for more surface and under- ground water storage as dri- er weather becomes the new norm, he said. The district raised its water allotment by .5 acre-feet of water per acre to encourage growers to use early water, he said. It’s resulted in a much bet- ter looking first-cutting Tim- othy hay that started in late May, instead of mid-June, and was in full swing the week of June 6, he said. Late summer water supply for the KRD, Roza Irrigation District in Sunnyside and oth- er junior water right holders in the Yakima Basin was fore- cast at 86 percent of normal by the U.S. Bureau of Recla- LEGAL OREGON SHEEP COMMISSION Notice of Public Budget Hearing The annual Budget Hearing and Regular Meeting of the Oregon Sheep Commission will be held Monday, June 27, 2016, beginning at 1:00 PM in the Conference Room of the Oregon Farm Bureau, 1320 Capitol Street NE, Suite 200. Salem, Oregon. At this hearing any interested sheep producer has a right to be heard with respect to the proposed budget, a copy of which is available for public inspection, under reasonable circumstances, in each of the Oregon State University Extension Services offices. Copies of the proposed budget and tentative agenda are also available for public inspection in the Commission office located at 1270 Chemeketa Street NE, Salem, OR and may be requested by calling (503) 364-5462 or sending a message to: info@sheeporegon.com. The Oregon Sheep Commission complies with the American with Disabilities Act. If you need special accommodations to participate in this meeting, please contact the Commission 24-4/#4 office 48 hours in advance. mation on June 3. That’s up 1 percent from a month earlier. At that level, the KRD should make it to the normal Oct. 15 end of the season with no restrictions if farm- ers all conserve as much wa- ter as possible, Eberhart said. The district normally diverts 336,000 acre-feet of water per season from the Yakima River at Easton. Farther downriver, the Roza Irrigation District serves 72,000 acres of farmland from Selah to Benton City. It’s manager, Scott Revell, said the Roza should be OK at 86 percent of normal supply as long as it isn’t a long, hot summer with little or no pre- cipitation. If it does become too hot and dry for too long, the dis- trict will begin working back- ward from its normal Oct. 20 shut off for an earlier ending, he said. He’s keeping a wary eye on the situation. At 47 percent of normal water supply last summer, the Roza cut water to growers by up to 75 percent and shut- down from May 11 to 31. Kittitas Reclamation cut off water after in early August instead of October, largely preventing a second-cut- ting of Timothy. The district lost $11.4 million in crops and the statewide crop loss due to the drought was $336 million-plus, the state De- partment of Agriculture has said.
