Snow, Water Accumulation Average In Eastern Idaho

Hydrology experts say even though eastern Idaho has experienced heavy rain fall recently, the snow pack located in the mountains acts like a sponge to absorb it and doesn’t impact our water supply.

“When rain falls onto the snowpack, it often freezes into the snowpack. Even though today it’s raining at higher elevations, it’s still probably okay for our water supply,” said hydrology expert Jeff Anderson.

Students from Idaho State University hiked up to Pine Creek Pass to learn about the snowpack and water supply. Graduate student Theodore Barnhart says learning about local water supplies is something he’s always found interesting.

“I’m personally very interested in western water issues and so learning the science behind hydrology is going to help me and inform me about those types of issues,” said Barnhart.

“Water is all around us, either we have too much or too little most of the time so understanding the timing of wind and water cons and how much there is and the quality of that water. All of that matters,” said Sarah Godsey, a geoscience professor at ISU.

The big question on everyone’s mind is what happens next. As for the heavy rain and flooding we’re currently dealing with, that probably won’t be the case next spring.

“With a snowpack that’s about 90% average right now for the upper Snake River Basin, as long as we have a normal kind of runoff, we’ll probably be fine,” said Anderson.

The final numbers for the day at Pine Creek Pass with regards to the amount of snow was 48 inches in depth, which would be about 14 inches of liquid water.