January 26, 2018
CapitalPress.com
Above average reservoir
levels offset below
normal Idaho snowpack
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
BOISE — Snowpack
levels in many basins in Ida-
ho and Eastern Oregon are
well below normal but res-
ervoir levels are significantly
above average.
That means irrigators
have a significant amount of
water in the “bank” — reser-
voirs — to fall back on this
year in case snowpack levels
continue to remain below
normal.
“The snowpack is lagging
behind but the good thing is
that ... we still have some
pretty good reservoir levels,”
said Tim Page, who manages
the Boise Project Board of
Control, which provides wa-
ter to 167,000 acres of farms
and five irrigation districts in
southwestern Idaho.
As of Jan. 22, total snow-
pack in the Boise River basin
was 65 percent of normal,
according to the Natural Re-
sources Conservation Ser-
vice.
But the amount of water
stored in the Boise River
system’s reservoirs is above
average.
“It looks like we’re in
pretty good shape as of right
now,” Page said.
The same scenario is
repeated in many basins
throughout Idaho, according
to the NRCS January water
supply outlook report for the
state.
“Reservoir storage is in
good shape across the state
with nearly all reporting nor-
mal to well above normal
storage for this time of the
year,” the report states. “Ida-
ho’s reservoirs are the bright
spot now for next year’s wa-
ter supply outlook.”
Only a few basins have
near or above normal snow-
pack levels right now.
“If snowpacks and pro-
jected stream flow 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,” the
NRCS report states.
Snowpack is well below
normal in southwestern Ida-
ho basins. For example, it’s
55 percent of normal in the
Weiser River basin, 76 per-
cent of normal in the Payette
River basin and 65 percent in
the Boise River basin.
In the Owyhee River ba-
sin in Eastern Oregon, snow-
pack is 39 percent of normal.
The Owyhee Basin feeds
water into the Owyhee Res-
ervoir, which provides water
to 118,000 acres of irrigated
farmland in Eastern Oregon
and part of Idaho.
But the reservoir is 67
percent full with 482,000
acre-feet of water. That’s
about 150 percent of normal
for this time of year.
The reservoir is already
close to having enough wa-
ter to provide growers with a
normal irrigation supply this
year, said OID board mem-
ber and farmer Bruce Corn.
“Certainly, it looks good
for this year,” he said.
5
New California Farm Bureau
leader to battle regs, promote ag
By TIM HEARDEN
For the Capital Press
RED BLUFF, Calif. —
Easing the regulatory burden
on farmers and reminding
consumers and lawmakers of
the economic importance of
agriculture are high on Jamie
Johansson’s “to do” list.
Johansson, 49, was chosen
by members to be the Califor-
nia Farm Bureau Federation’s
16th president in December.
The Oroville olive grower
succeeds Modesto tree nut
farmer Paul Wenger, who
served the maximum eight
years in office.
Johansson told a gathering
Jan. 18 that it’s important for
farmers to make the public
aware of the difficulties they
face because of regulations.
He noted that it takes 19 dif-
ferent fees and permits from
the county to the national
level to make a bottle of olive
oil, and as many as 28 differ-
ent fees and permits to pro-
duce a bottle of wine.
“People get that,” Johans-
son said during the Tehama
County Farm Bureau’s 100th
annual meeting. “Nowadays
it takes more training to be a
barber than to be a paramed-
ic in California. One in every
three workers are required to
pay a fee or get a permit to do
their jobs in the U.S.”
The regulations are a key
reason only 1 in 10 jobs are
in rural America, down from
1 in 3 a couple of decades
ago, Johansson told the gath-
ering.
Some relief is occurring
Tim Hearden/For the Capital Press
Tim Hearden/For the Capital Press
Shannon Douglass, right, the California Farm Bureau Federation’s
new first vice president, talks with Shasta College agriculture
instructor and program coordinator Trena Kimler-Richards at the
Tehama County Farm Bureau’s 100th annual meeting Jan. 18.
at the federal level, he said,
noting that President Donald
Trump’s administration has
delayed implementing on-
farm inspections while it re-
views the Food Safety Mod-
ernization Act and moved
to rescind the controversial
Waters of the U.S. regulation.
A first-generation grower,
Johansson cultivated a dream
of farming while growing
up in Humboldt County and
working on his friends’ cattle
ranches and dairy operations,
he said.
He bought 20 acres of
olive trees in 1993 and now
has 80 acres of olives for oil,
specialty citrus fruit and an
egg operation, mostly sold
directly to consumers. He
also co-founded the Sierra
Oro Farm Trail Association
and is a former Oroville
city councilman.
Johansson steps into the
president’s role after serving
as a statewide CFBF offi-
cer for eight years, becom-
ing second vice president in
2009 and first vice president
in 2015. He will serve along-
side new first vice president
Shannon Douglass of neigh-
boring Glenn County.
The 34-year-old Doug-
lass is an owner of Douglass
Ranch, which raises beef cat-
tle, sunflowers, corn and for-
age crops. She also founded
CalAgJobs, which matches
job seekers with agricultural
employers.
Johansson expressed some
surprise that the two mid-Sac-
ramento Valley representa-
tives won the top spots since
the Farm Bureau often picks
officers from different re-
Newly elected California Farm
Bureau Federation presi-
dent Jamie Johansson gives
remarks at the Tehama County
Farm Bureau’s 100th annual
meeting Jan. 18. Johansson,
an Oroville olive and citrus fruit
farmer, succeeds eight-year
president Paul Wenger.
gions. But both he and Dou-
glass downplayed their prox-
imity.
“In Farm Bureau, whether
you’re from Imperial County
or Siskiyou County, we need
each other,” Johansson said in
an interview. “When farmers
in the south aren’t getting the
water they need, that’s a threat
to the north as well.”
Douglass, a Glenn Coun-
ty Farm Bureau director and
former chair of the Young
Farmers and Ranchers State
Committee, agreed.
“We’re really excited to
continue working for Farm
Bureau and working for our
members,” she said. “We do
very important work at the
state and national level. I’m
very excited to be part of that
and being even more involved
moving forward.”
Oregon irrigators aim to restore transfers among reservoirs
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Oregon water regulators
have apparently stopped al-
lowing the transfer of stored
water among reservoirs,
which irrigators hope will
be rectified with upcoming
legislation.
The problem was re-
cently encountered by the
Tumalo Irrigation District,
which aimed to transfer
storage water rights to en-
hance habitat for the threat-
ened Oregon spotted frog
and improve the function of
its water distribution sys-
tem.
By piping irrigation ca-
nals, the district is conserv-
ing water from its Crescent
Lake reservoir that could
then be transferred to an in-
stream use in the Deschutes
River, increasing stream
flows for the frog, said Ken
Rieck, the district’s manag-
er.
Transferring stored wa-
ter into the river would
also generate credits al-
lowing for groundwater
pumping, which could be
sold to raise money for ad-
ditional piping projects, he
said.
Aside from transfers to
instream uses, the district
wants to move water from
the Tumalo reservoir into
several smaller ponds that
would help regulate water
pressure, Rieck said.
Just as flushing a toilet
can cause a home’s other
water outlets to lose pres-
sure, water diversion by a
large irrigator can reduce
pressure to lateral lines in a
water system, he said.
Water transferred for
storage in nearby ponds,
however, can be pumped
into the system to off-
set this loss in pressure,
Rieck said. “We’re trying
to bring our efficiency way
up and this is the way to do
that.”
Historically, the Ore-
gon Water Resources De-
partment has permitted the
transfer of stored water
among reservoirs, as well as
the transfer of stored water
to instream uses, said Eliz-
abeth Howard, an attorney
representing the district.
Over the past year or so,
however, the agency has
ceased approving such re-
quests, seemingly due to a
changed legal interpretation
by the Oregon Department
of Justice, Howard said.
It’s unclear what prompt-
ed the change, but the situ-
ation may be resolved with
the Irrigation Storage Ef-
ficiency Act, which would
clarify OWRD’s authority
to approve such transfers.
The bill is expected to be
introduced during the up-
coming legislative session
in February by Sen. Tim
Knopp, R-Bend, who re-
cently spoke in favor of the
“legislative concept” during
a hearing of the Senate
Committee on Environment
and Natural Resources.
Capital Press was unable
to reach OWRD for com-
ment as of press time.
Each transfer application
would “stand or fail on its
own merits,” as the legis-
lation does not create any
“shortcuts” to approval un-
der the OWRD’s standard
process, said Rieck.
The clarification would
restore water management
flexibility not only in the
Tumalo Irrigation District
but also in other areas that
have similar needs, said
Howard.
“The plain fact is it has a
pretty significant impact on
districts and irrigators who
thought they had all these
tools in their toolbox,” she
said.
4-2/101
New legal
interpretation
creates problem for
Tumalo Irrigation
District
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