How much water?

Though winter isn’t over, irrigators are concerned

By JILL AHO
H&N Staff Writer

February 5, 2009

If dry conditions continue, there may not be enough water to go around this summer, and that doesn’t bode well for Klamath Basin irrigators.

But winter isn’t over yet, and those who rely on the snowpack are hoping for late-season precipitation.

The most recent estimates of the Klamath Basin snowpack indicate it is at about 86 percent of average for this time of year, something that concerns irrigators dependent on runoff for agriculture.

“It makes me very concerned,” said Greg Addington, executive director of Klamath Water Users Association. “What I do is try to make sure there is an adequate supply of water for the Klamath Project, and I can’t make it snow.”

With almost no precipitation through the month of January, water storage in Gerber and Clear Lake reservoirs and Upper Klamath Lake is 65 percent of average, according to a Natural Resources Conservation Service report issued Jan. 1.

Monitoring stations

The Natural Resources Conservation Service has multiple remote stations that monitor snow in the mountains for both density and accumulation. These readings are used to estimate the snow water equivalent, or what volume of water would result if all the snow melted today.

Bureau of Reclamation area manager Susan Fry said in an e-mail that although the current forecasts are preliminary, the outlook is not great.

“Given the current elevation of (Upper Klamath Lake) and current snowpack conditions, it is likely to be a very dry year,” she said. “If biological opinion minimum requirements are met, the excess water will be available to the project.”

Federal Endangered Species Act biological opinions state that the lake must maintain certain levels for endangered species of sucker, and others mandate river flows for coho salmon. This affects whether irrigators can use water from the lake to water their crops.

Snowpack replenishes the lake throughout summer, but storage levels at 31 percent of capacity could diminish delivery of irrigation water, Fry said.

“It makes it very difficult to meet minimum requirements and Project demand when lake elevations are so low at the beginning of the irrigation season,” she said.

Addington, who was in Salem this week participating in hearings over a bill to support the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, said irrigation conditions this year are having an impact on the discussions.

“I can tell you everybody’s pretty concerned,” he said. “Folks know if there’s not enough water this year, it’s going to jeopardize some of these longer-term solutions we’re working on. We don’t really have a solution if there’s no water.”

Fry said the Bureau would not make any decisions on how to proceed until it receives Natural Resources Conservation Service’s April forecast.

Addington said, with exception of last year, which ended with 100 percent of normal precipitation, he has yet to be comfortable with the amount of precipitation going into the irrigation year.

“There’s time left, and we’re hopeful Mother Nature will take care of us yet again,” he said. “Right now we’re just doing a snow dance.”

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Source: http://www.heraldandnews.com/articles/2009/02/05/top_story/doc498a92878880c077721990.txt

How much water?

By JILL AHO H&N Staff Writer

By JILL AHO
H&N Staff Writer