BOISE, Idaho — Recent storms and consistent snow throughout the winter have the majority of Idaho's river basins above average when it comes to the snow water equivalent, especially in southern Idaho.
"It is a very good optimistic looking year at this point," said David Hoekema of the Idaho Department of Water Resource. "I think we are at a point where we can see where the water year is going as long as we don’t have a sudden and sharp turnaround."
With more storms on the way this week, Idaho is in a good position especially if it keeps snowing in March and we get a wet spring.
"We are getting optimistic that Idaho will pull out of the drought this year," said Hoekema.
Of course, we still have a long way to go and Hoekema says river forecasts are coming out lower than the snowpack level because of how dry the soil got after last year's record-breaking summer of hot, dry temperatures.
A wet spring would also ensure farmers and irrigators won't have to start drawing water earlier than normal.
The Boise and the Payette River basins have a strong carryover from last year, but one basin that could use more moisture is the Snake River where reservoirs have been depleted over the past few years.
"We really want to see 120 percent of snowpack there," said Hoekema. "They have some ground to make up. They are at 107 percent right now, but with big storm forecasts to come in over the next ten days hopefully we will start to see that close in on 120 percent."
Some more encouraging news comes from the Big Wood, the Little Wood, the Big Lost, and the Little Lost which started experiencing drought a year before the rest of the state.
If the snowpack continues to build in these basins, it could help recharge the aquifer that has been drying up during the drought.
"If we can get some natural recharge so those systems can have a higher rate of conveyance that would be a big boost and help pull that water supply through the year," said Hoekema.
The picture is starting to come together, but we still have a long way to go and when March comes to an end we plan on joining the snow survey team from the NRCS to get an update when they physically go up to Mores Creek Summit to measure the snow water equivalency.
