The Idaho Department of Water Resources held its final meeting on the summer outlook as warm weather blankets Idaho. The meeting, which includes meteorologists, hyrdologists and government officials, comes after a record-breaking winter in terms of high temperatures and low snowpack statewide.
"Anyone who is using irrigation for agriculture is having to tap into reservoir storage so much earlier than normal," said Erin Wharton, a water specialist with the National Resources Conservation Service. "That means you have to extend that water for even longer through the dry, hot summer."
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The Boise and the Payette River basins are not in bad shape with average precipitation so far this year, and both basins got a boost from a pair of snowstorms in April. The reservoirs are full, but that is not expected to last because while we got precipitation, it didn't come as snow.
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“We are still melting out about three weeks early as we peaked at only 70 percent of our normal snowpack," demonstrated Wharton. "That means that we are not going to have as much water in our rivers, streams, and lakes this year."
Other basins did not fare as well, and none got it worse than the Owyhee River Basin, which not only missed out on snowfall but also lacked precipitation in general. The Owyhee Irrigation District manager told Idaho News 6 that irrigators can expect a 15% cut in water. That number could have been worse, but thankfully, it's not due to a good amount of reservoir water carryover from last year.
Northern Idaho experienced below-average snowpack for the fourth year in a row, and the biggest concern comes from southeast Idaho. Last week IDWR issued a curtailment order for the Eastern Snake Plane Aquifer where water is getting drawn out of the reservoirs almost two months early.
"In eastern Idaho, the snowpack was really low in the Willow, Blackfoot, and Portneuf rivers. Those areas are already seeing stream flows reach almost historically low levels," said Wharton. "That’s just because there wasn’t any snow to sustain it."
Irrigators and water managers across Idaho will need to conserve water this summer, and the real concern for the Owyhee District manager and Erin Wharton hinges upon what happens next year.
Most basins in Idaho will retain enough water for this year, but there will be minimal carryover for 2027.
"Reservoir storage is going to be drawn down really low by the fall, which sets us up for needing a big snowpack next year in order to fill," added Wharton. "We might have enough water in these basins to get through this year, but that makes it more of a nail-biter for next year."
Another concern is the approaching wildfire season, since Idaho and nearly every surrounding western state also missed out on snow.
The public will need to remain vigilant this summer to prevent wildland fire managers from stretching resources too thin around the region.
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