A white Christmas is good news for irrigators Mitch Lies Oregon Staff Writer Capital Press - December 16, 2005 Weather forecasters point out that it’s early — and things could change — and it might not pay to get your hopes up. But that said, above-average snowpack this fall is an encouraging sign for Oregon farmers who depend on water storage for irrigation supplies. “We got a boost recently when heavy precipitation in the form of snow blanketed the Cascades and other high elevations,” said Jim Little, meteorologist with the Oregon Department of Agriculture. “That’s a nice start, but we are going to need more in the months to come. “The water year is like a nine-inning baseball game and we are only in the top of the second inning,” he said. Snowpack, which is above average for this time of year, is particularly encouraging compared to last year when dry conditions persisted through the fall and winter months before heavy spring rains provided adequate irrigation supplies for farmers in most of the state. As of Dec. 13 last year, said Jon Lea, a hydrologist for the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in Portland, snowpack was 55 percent of average. This year it is at 113 percent of average. “We’re off to a grand start,” Lea said. “We want to see some more storms that add snowpack in the mountains so we have a real good pack around the first of April. But this is a good situation to have.” Lea said the situation this year is a complete reversal of last year when Southern states had heavier-than- normal snowpack in fall and winter months while Oregon and Washington were bare. “One year it seems like it falls one place, and the next year it falls somewhere else,” he said. Spring rainfall last year was a saving grace for the state’s water supply, Lea said. But that came at a cost as growers couldn’t get equipment into fields, pollination suffered in several tree fruit crops and some crops were simply drowned out. Snowpack peaked this year in the first week of December when it reached a statewide average of 139 percent of normal — the best statewide average of all Western states. Its relationship to average dropped slightly last week but weather forecasters point out that several more storms could strike Oregon this year. Snowpack typically is 40 percent of average as of Jan. 1, Lea said, and the snow season typically runs from late November through the end of March. A quick look at individual basins show that most basins are above average heading into next week’s start of winter. As of Dec. 13, the Klamath Basin stands at 150 percent of average. Malheur reports 127 percent of normal. The Deschutes, John Day, Harney and Rogue-Umpqua are at 120, 121, 115 and 117 percent of average respectively. Only a few areas are below average in Oregon. Snowpack in the Owyhee basin in southeast Oregon is only about half of what it should be at this time of year, Lea said. Snowpack in the Coast Range is 75 percent of average, and snowpack in the Umatilla Basin is 84 percent of average. Mitch Lies is based in Salem. His e-mail address is mlies@capitalpress.com.