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October 7, 2016 Subscribe to our weekly Idaho email newsletter at CapitalPress.com/newsletters CapitalPress.com 9 Idaho Idaho study seeks optimum harvest, How cold cloud seeding works storage dates for peaches, nectarines Since its discovery in the late 1940s, cloud seeding has proven effective at changing cloud structure and producing ice crystals that fall as snow or rain, although quantifying the amount of additional precipitation can be difficult. By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press PARMA, Idaho — The University of Idaho’s fruit program has received a $161,000 grant for a project that researchers believe could make peach and nectarine production in the state more competitive in the world mar- ket. The project seeks to de- termine the optimum harvest dates as well as storage life of 15 promising new peach and nectarine cultivars. UI researchers selected those varieties out of 60 they studied in a previous project. Determining the best times to harvest them in Idaho con- ditions is the next step, said fruit researcher Essie Fallahi, who heads UI’s pomology program at the university’s Parma research station. “The new question we have is, what is the optimum time ... to harvest them and how long do we want to store them to have the maximum shelf life,” he said. Researchers will measure fruit characteristics such as sugar content, fi rmness and bruising to determine which varieties maintain their qual- ity longer in storage. “Everybody is very excit- ed about this project because Sean Ellis/Capital Press Research associate Tom Elias cuts open a peach at the University of Idaho’s Parma research station Sept. 19. Par- ma researchers have received a $161,000 grant for a project that seeks to make peach and nectarine production in Idaho more competitive in the global market. it’s targeting the very specifi c questions that growers are in- terested in,” Fallahi said. Commercial fruit growers said knowing the ideal harvest times and storage capacities of these varieties will help them make better management and shipping decisions. “Knowing optimum har- vest dates (and) how long they will last after we pick them dictates a lot of things to us as growers and shippers,” said Jerry Henggeler, co-owner of Henggeler Packing Co., one of the state’s largest commer- cial fruit orchards. “It’s (infor- mation) that defi nitely would be advantageous to growers in this area who grow that fruit.” Commercial fruit growers in the region tend to pick fruit when it’s greener and harder so they can maximize shelf life, said Michael Williamson, manager of Williamson Or- chards and Vineyards. But that can lead to less than ideal quality when the fruit reaches the consumer, he said. “When you pick peaches, you’re up against the clock,” Williamson said. “If (Essie) can fi nd that optimum harvest date and storage life ... that would be very valuable infor- mation.” The grant was awarded by the Idaho State Department of Agriculture and some of it will be used to hire a graduate student. The two-year project started this year and Fallahi expects Idaho fruit growers will begin planting some of the studied cultivars in 2018. “In this project, we expect to identify cultivars of peach- es and nectarines that have better post-storage fl avor and taste as a result of optimum harvest time and storage life,” the project’s grant application states. 1 Clouds form from air 4 Droplets of supercooled rising over mountains. water attach to the particles forming ice crystals. 2 In the air, planes accurately disperse silver iodide into clouds. 5 If it is cold enough, ice crystals fall out as snow. 3 On the ground, generators spray silver iodide solution into a propane burner. The heat column transports the seeding particles into the cloud’s water vapor. 6 The enhanced snopack melts in spring, feeding rivers and lakes. The right conditions Ground-based generators rely on prevailing winds to disperse seeding material on target. Clouds must contain supercooled water for effective seeding. Sources: Desert Research Institute; North American Weather Consultants, Inc. Alan Kenaga/Capital Press Cloud seeding study planned in Idaho’s Payette range By JOHN O’CONNELL IGWA, Rangen re-enter settlement talks By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press BOISE — A recent Idaho Supreme Court water right ruling has renewed settlement negotiations in the Rangen Inc. trout farm’s call against junior Eastern Snake Plain ground- water users. Offi cials of Idaho Ground Water Appropriators Inc. say a possible outcome is construc- tion of a second, shorter and more energy-effi cient pipe- line to mitigate the Hagerman trout farm for up to 9.1 cubic feet per second of reduced fl ows to its spring. The re- duced fl ows were attributed to junior groundwater pump- ing west of a geologic feature near American Falls known as the Great Rift. In February 2015, IGWA completed a $4 million miti- gation pipeline running up a cliff wall and spanning more than a mile from the Magic Springs hatchery to Rangen’s raceways. The pipeline has been op- erating ever since, but IGWA attorney T.J. Budge said the sides re-entered negotiations after the Supreme Court af- fi rmed IGWA’s claim to a 12 cubic feet per second water right on the Bridge Diversion of Billingsley Creek. Rangen had been using water from the Bridge Diver- sion for decades before IGWA fi led for the water right in 2013. The Supreme Court con- curred with IGWA in Febru- ary that Rangen’s right ap- plies only to a feature at the head of Billingsley Creek, called the Curren Tunnel. In its May 27 ruling, the high court rejected Rangen’s claim that IGWA shouldn’t be entitled to assume the Bridge Diversion water right solely for mitiga- tion purposes, arguing mitiga- tion doesn’t legally constitute a benefi cial use of water. “Mitigation has been rec- ognized as a benefi cial use both in agency and judicial proceedings,” the court’s deci- sion reads. Budge said meetings have been productive as both sides seek a mutually benefi cial per- manent resolution. If negotia- tions break down, Budge said IGWA groundwater districts have already consented to move forward with condem- nation proceedings and pursue IDWR approval of a fi fth mit- igation plan to forcibly build a pump station and pipeline, with an estimated construc- tion cost under $500,000, on Rangen’s property. Budge said IGWA’s ulti- mate course should be clear within a couple of weeks. “Rangen does not want a pump station on their property, and our folks want to mitigate as reliably and cost effective- ly as we can,” Budge said. “We’ve explored other ways to decide if there’s a win-win available.” Capital Press BOISE — Offi cials say a planned study of storms pass- ing through the Payette range this winter should provide fi rst- of-its-kind data on the phys- ics of cloud seeding, enabling weather-modifi cation programs to better quantify their results. The $2.1 million research project, funded by the Nation- al Science Foundation, will involve Idaho Power Co., the University of Colorado-Boul- der, University of Wyoming, University of Illinois and the National Center for Atmo- spheric Research. “We are interested in under- standing the natural dynamic and micro-physical processes by which precipitation forms and evolves,” said Katja Frie- drich, a professor with the University of Colorado’s De- partment of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, adding the data could also help with se- lecting generator sites and the best types of clouds to seed. The process involves releasing silver iodide into clouds to form more ice nuclei and bolster mountain snowpack. Jeff French, an assistant pro- fessor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Wyoming, said this will represent the second major study on cloud seeding since improvements in instruments recently rekin- dled interest in the subject, after seeding research halted in the early 1980s. The University of Wyo- ming fi nished the other recent study in the winter of 2014, but French emphasized seeding infrastructure in the Payette, where Idaho Power has long Courtesy of Jeff French The University of Wyoming’s Beechcraft King Air plane will gather data from within clouds to analyze the effectiveness of cloud seeding in Idaho’s Payette range as part of a $2.1 million research project. run a seeding program, is far superior to the area analyzed in Wyoming. French said the Wyoming project utilized only ground- based seeding generators and relied on modeling of cloud response. For the Payette proj- ect, his university will provide a King Air plane to fl y into clouds as they’re seeded by an- other aircraft and ground-based generators, recording results for comparison with unseeded clouds. “We need some validation of the production of ice due to cloud seeding,” French said. “That’s what we’ll be able to get with measurements of the King Air — how many ice crystals are being produced — then we can verify our model is capturing this correctly.” French said the additional research is especially timely for Wyoming, which recently completed a six-year seeding pilot project and is commenc- ing with a state-sponsored pro- gram. Idaho Power initially ex- perimented with cloud seeding in 1995, and has administered a program since 2003 to benefi t its hydro-power operations. Jon Bowling, the electric company’s engineering lead, explained the program will have a roughly $3.6 million budget this winter, with part- ners contributing more than $1 million. Pledges for this win- ter from water users include $600,000 from the Idaho Wa- ter Resource Board, $125,000 from the Boise water district, $125,000 from the Wood Riv- er water district and $200,000 from the Upper Snake River water district. The company also plans to meet with the water board about additional funding to further develop tools to verify benefi ts of cloud seed- ing, down to the acre-foot. Shaun Parkinson, Idaho Power’s senior water man- agement engineer, said the program has grown its infra- structure by 40 percent during the past two years but will add only three new generators to the system for this winter. In the future, Idaho Power will prior- itize adding a second aircraft in the Upper Snake, he said. Last winter, Idaho Power estimates its seeding increased the snowpack in the Payette by 11.5 percent, in the Boise by 9.4 percent, in the Wood River by 5.4 percent, in the Northern Snake by 4 percent and in the Eastern Snake by 5.4 percent. Grant to improve irrigation water quality, quantity By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press 41-2/#4 PARMA, Idaho — A $500,000 USDA grant will enable farmers in the Parma area to participate in a project designed to improve and con- serve water in the lower Boise River watershed. The money will be used by Farmers’ Cooperative Ditch Co. to build an 8.8-acre set- tling system that removes sediment. This will improve the quality of water the compa- ny delivers to its 450 irriga- tor stakeholders, said Tom Johnston, a retired farmer and member of the FCDC’s board of directors. “There is more scrutiny of water quality all the time,” he said. “Water quality is getting to be a very important part of irrigation for farmers. We’re trying to get a leg up and do some positive things that will be helpful to all of us.” Improving the quality of water the company delivers could also help irrigators’ bot- tom line, he said. A lot of farmers in the area have been unable to switch from gravity to sprinkler or drip irrigation systems be- cause sediment in the water is hard on pumps and plugs the tubing of drip irrigation tape. Johnston said NRCS esti- mates the sediment basin will remove about 68 percent of sediment from the water. Removing large amounts of sediment from the water will enable those farmers to convert to other forms of irri- gation if they choose, he said. Half of the grant will be used to design and construct the sediment basin, while the other half will be used to pro- vide fi nancial assistance to ir- rigators who want to upgrade their systems or adopt other conservation practices. This will help the farmers in the 4,000-acre project area to reduce production costs and conserve water, while as- sisting in efforts to clean up the lower Boise River, which is considered an impaired wa- terway. “We’re trying to do what’s right for the environment as well as give our clients a bet- ter bang for their buck,” John- ston said. He said the sediment basin is expected to be complete by mid-summer next year. The grant is provided through the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Ser- vice’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program. “The long-term water quality, quantity and soil health goals of the company are exactly the type of proj- ects we want to support in Canyon County and the lower Boise River watershed,” Cur- tis Elke, NRCS state conser- vationist for Idaho, stated in a news release. NRCS expects to an- nounce the sign-up period and eligible conservation practic- es during the last two weeks of October.
