Friday, February 11, 2022
CapitalPress.com 5
Idaho snowpack stays near
normal despite dry spell
By BRAD CARLSON
Capital Press
The snowpack was near
normal Feb. 1 in much of
Idaho despite recent dry
weather, USDA’s Natural
Resources Conservation Ser-
vice reported.
A wet December and
snowy fi rst week of January
pushed totals above normal,
but dry conditions and tem-
peratures slightly above nor-
mal in the mountains have
prompted some concern about
early runoff .
“Warmer
temperatures
combined with little snowfall
throughout January resulted in
an unusually dense snowpack
for this time of year,” Daniel
Tappa, hydrologist and data
collection offi cer for NRCS in
Idaho, said.
He said snowpack density
is closely related to the poten-
tial for snowmelt to begin.
“The higher the density, the
closer the snowpack is to
reaching an isothermal state,
which happens before wide-
spread snowmelt can occur.”
Tappa said in an inter-
view that while snowpack
this dense, this soon “is a bit
alarming in terms of the health
of mountain snowpack,”
spring weather will be the
determining factor. The sun’s
low angle is helping it stay in
place for now.
NRCS said though condi-
tions remain favorable for a
normal runoff season, normal
runoff is unlikely if dry condi-
tions persist.
Reservoir storage in the
Upper Snake River system in
eastern Idaho was well below
normal for Feb. 1. The snow-
pack is 85-95% of normal.
Kevin Smith, meteorolo-
gist at the National Weather
Service in Pocatello, said La
Nina conditions typically
place southeast Idaho on the
edge of or between active
storm tracks as they move
over a Pacifi c high-pressure
ridge. Storms have hit parts of
Montana and western Canada,
“and just not come far enough
south to give us a lot of pre-
cipitation here.”
Climate Prediction Center
outlooks for southeast Idaho
call for below-normal precip-
itation for the next two weeks,
near normal for the next month
and possibly above normal in
spots for three months, he said
Feb. 7.
NRCS said reservoir stor-
age in southern Snake River
basins is below normal except
at Wild Horse Reservoir in the
Upper Owyhee. Precipitation
in January was below normal
for the Owyhee and Bruneau
basins but higher than usual
in Salmon Falls, Goose Creek
and Raft River.
Storage was 77% of nor-
mal in the Boise River sys-
tem of Anderson Ranch,
Arrowrock and Lucky Peak
reservoirs, and 61% in the
Weiser River Basin. It was
88.5% in the Payette Basin.
Snowpack in west-central
Idaho basins was around nor-
mal Feb. 1.
Tappa said that while res-
ervoir storage does not change
much in fall and winter unless
there is an unusual occur-
rence like rain, it indicates
how much runoff is needed to
meet irrigation needs. In the
central mountains, snowpack
was 115% of normal Feb. 1
in the Big Wood Basin, where
Magic Reservoir storage was
43% after back-to-back dry
years.
Washington Apple
Education Foundation hires
new executive director
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
WENATCHEE, Wash. —
Washington Apple Education
Foundation has hired a new
executive director, Faviola
Barbosa.
Washington Apple Edu-
cation Foundation, or WAEF,
is the charity arm of Wash-
ington’s tree fruit industry.
Founded in 1994, the orga-
nization is best known for its
scholarship program, which
assists hundreds of college
students annually.
The majority of scholar-
ship recipients are fi rst-gener-
ation college students, many
of whom are the children of
Latino orchard workers.
WAEF’s leaders say Bar-
bosa is a natural fi t for the
position because of her back-
ground in farming, inter-
est in higher education and
deep roots in the Latino
community.
Barbosa, who started
work in her new position this
week, replaces Jennifer With-
erbee, who announced her
retirement last October after
serving as executive director
of WAEF for 20 years.
Barbosa is the fourth exec-
utive direc-
tor in the
foundation’s
history.
“I
am
so happy to
welcome
Faviola
Faviola as
Barbosa
the
new
Executive
Director of WAEF,” chair-
man Laurie Knebusch said
in a statement. “Her excite-
ment and passion to work
with students is easily con-
veyed when she shares what
it means to be able to impact
lives through access to edu-
cational opportunities. Her
life story is compelling and
includes deep familial ties to
the fruit industry.”
Knebusch led the search
for a new executive director.
Barbosa has signifi cant
experience in working with
college students, having
served within the Washington
State Community & Techni-
cal Colleges system for more
than 18 years.
Barbosa migrated from
Mexico to the U.S. with her
family when she was 2 years
old. She grew up in the farm-
working industry in Orondo,
Wash.
We’ve
Got You Covered
Mountain snowpack dips across Oregon
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
PORTLAND — Mountain snow-
packs shrank across Oregon at the end
of January after a strong start, with
most basins east of the Cascades now
measuring below the 30-year median
for this time of winter.
Statewide, the snow-water equiva-
lent as of Feb. 8 was averaging 94.5%
of the median from 1991 to 2020.
That is down from 138% on Jan. 10,
when a series of storms dumped sev-
eral feet of snow at higher elevations.
Farmers and ranchers — particu-
larly in central and eastern Oregon —
depend on ample snowpack to replen-
ish streams and reservoirs heading
into the irrigation season. Multiple
years of drought have diminished
water supplies for agriculture, fi sh
and wildlife.
In its monthly Oregon Basin Out-
look Report, the USDA Natural
Resources Conservation Service indi-
cates that more snow and lower tem-
peratures will be necessary to begin
off setting the impacts of drought.
According to the U.S. Drought
Monitor, roughly 95% of Oregon
remains in some level of drought,
including 16% in “exceptional
drought,” the highest category. The
worst conditions are in Central Ore-
gon, beginning in the Klamath Basin
to the south and swelling north into
parts of Wasco, Sherman and Gilliam
counties.
While January appeared to off er
EO Media Group File
Snowpack in Oregon declined at the end of January after a strong start
to the month.
some relief, with one storm dropping
as much as 2 feet of snow in the Cas-
cades, that was followed by rain-on-
snow and drier weather at month’s
end, melting away a chunk of that
early accumulation.
Every basin east of the Cascades
has dipped below the median, except
for the Umatilla, Walla Walla and
Willow basins at 106%.
The Malheur and Owyhee basins
in southeast Oregon are at 74% and
80%, respectively. The Klamath
Basin, where farmers saw a complete
shutdown of the Klamath Project last
year, is at 83%, down from 118% a
month earlier.
The highest snow totals are in the
Hood, Sandy and Lower Deschutes
basins at 136% of the median. The
Willamette Basin is also above the
median at 120%, though water stor-
age there is primarily driven by rain,
not snow.
Overall precipitation in the Wil-
lamette Valley is about normal dat-
ing back to the beginning of the water
year on Oct. 1.
Water managers have said it will
take prolonged “signifi cant precipi-
tation” for Oregon’s groundwater and
surface water to recover from drought.
“There are a lot of factors and time
involved in carryover of water,” said
Kyle Gorman, region manager for
south-central Oregon with the state’s
Water Resources Department, in a
previous interview.
The NRCS reports that most reser-
voirs in Oregon are at below-median
levels of storage, with some at less
than 50% of volume.
WSDA to stop certifying organic dairies
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
The Washington State
Department of Agriculture
will stop certifying organic
dairies and other livestock
operations, saying there
aren’t enough producers to
support the service.
The
department’s
organic program manager,
Brenda Book, informed
producers of the depart-
ment’s decision in an email
Feb. 3. The department cer-
tifi es 886 organic farms,
but only 41 have livestock,
according to Book.
Producers have until
March 15 to fi nd another
organization to certify
that their operations meet
USDA standards. Book
recommended
Oregon
Tilth, based in Corval-
lis. Oregon Tilth did not
respond to a request for
comment.
Producers who have
not been certifi ed by a new
agency by July 15 may
lose USDA certifi cation,
according to Book.
Rochester,
Wash.,
organic dairy farmer Eric
Johnson said Monday he
had no warning from the
department. “We got blind-
sided by it,” he said.
Agriculture department
spokesman Hector Castro
said Tuesday the depart-
ment decided to end the
program rather than try to
fi ll a vacancy. The program
was losing money, and
Oregon Tilth was ready
to provide the service, he
said.
Application, inspection
and renewal fees support
the department’s organic
certifi cation
program.
The department collected
less than $121,000 from
organic livestock producers
in 2021, according to Book.
It was, according to
Book, “less than one-third
of the cost for the minimum
staff needed to meet accred-
itation requirements.”
To pay, equip and train
an organic livestock inspec-
tor costs $100,682 year,
according to Book. “At a
minimum, four trained live-
stock specialists are needed
to provide ruminant certifi -
cation services,” she wrote.
Book said fees would
have to be raised at least
100% to support the
program.
“We believe that such
a signifi cant increase in
fees would be cost prohib-
itive for the aff ected busi-
nesses,” she wrote.
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