Drought levels look to be improving but not enough to get out of drought
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - All of Eastern Idaho is seeing precipitation above normal which is helping us to recover from our previous years of drought. Some areas are only slightly above average while others are seeing a remarkable year of snowpack.
Most of Eastern Idaho is seeing snowpack that will help out this year's water supply a great deal. The Bear and Portneuf ranges have snowpack this year that is above 150% of the average snowpack. Anywhere from the Big Wood to Little Lost regions are seeing around 130% of the average snowpack this year. The Blackfoot and Willow basins are seeing between 140-150% of the average snowpack too. This will greatly help out the drought for most of SE Idaho and central ID.
The concern lies in the Snake River Plain which is the main water supply for most of eastern ID. It's snowpack along with the snowpack for Salmon and Henry's Fork are only just above average around 105%. This means farmers through these areas should expect a deficit. Experts say we need a snowpack above 120% of the average snowpack to catch up from our past years of drought.
Efficiency from this snowpack could be a concern too. Most of the snow is on top of dry soil from the dry and warmer October right before most of the snow hit. The Idaho Water Resource committee(IDWR) is expecting some of the snow runoff to be absorbed by the soil before it goes into the reservoirs and rivers.
The IDWR will look into the water levels and snowpack more closely around the beginning of April to determine how much water we will truly get from the runoff. This is when the runoff from the snow starts to occur. In the next two months, average precipitation is expected to maintain the current snowpack levels.
