Uncertain future
Water woes affect the West, but is it only a short-term crisis?
By Larry Meyer
Argus Observer
Friday, November 16, 2007 10:41 AM PST
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| It’s a long way down to the water at all local reservoirs, but that did not deter this person at Bully Creek Reservoir, west of Vale. Recent storms have brought early optimism about the reservoirs filling back up. |
NYSSA — While it is still too early to gauge whether the new water year will deliver the level of moisture to furnish enough irrigation water for the next growing period, the rainy season is off to a good start, according to Owyhee Irrigation District Manager Jay Chamberlin.
Current storage levels at local reservoirs range from 3 percent at Warm Springs to 21 percent at Owyhee.
“Recent rains have at least begun to put moisture into the soils,” Chamberlin said. “It’s given us some snow in the upper country.”
Moisture in the ground, followed by a freeze and snow on top, will enhance runoff in the spring, he said.
“Some fronts have come through and have given us some good moisture,” he said, noting that weather forecasters have predicted that a La Nina weather pattern will bring a wetter season. He added he hopes they are right.
Chamberlin, though, cautioned about delivering any long-range predictions regarding weather.
“It’s early in the season,” he said, noting the area could hit a long, dry spell.
Southwest Idaho and Eastern Oregon need moisture but so does much of the Intermountain West and other portions of the nation.
American Falls Reservoir in eastern Idaho ended the year at a record low, at only 2 percent of its useable storage, Chamberlain said. That is a critical issue, he said.
“A lot of us pull water out of the Snake River system,” Chamberlin said.
Thursday, usable storage at the Owyhee Reservoir stood at about 144,000 acre feet.
“That’s a good start,” he said.
Ideally, though, Chamberlin said, 350,000 to 400,000 acre feet is needed to have a good season.
“It’s wait and see,” he said.
Chamberlin agrees weather patterns have changed. The wet and dry cycles, which experts said ran from seven to 10 years in the past, are now much longer, he said.
The East Coast is having severe drought while other states are flooding, he noted.
Water is a big issue across the West, and Las Vegas in particular is looking everywhere for additional water.
“As long as Las Vegas has money, it will not run out of water,” Chamberlin said.
He recently attended a national water meeting where he heard comments from a Las Vegas city official. He said the city is spending about $50 million on a pumping system.
Closer to home, in the Bend, Redmond and Madras areas, growth may mean those communities will go after water earmarked for agriculture for domestic use, he said, because it is easier to get to.
“They have the surface water,” he said, referring to farmers.
Some changes at home will be occurring as the result in a switch of farming practices as well as weather conditions. Since the development of irrigation shallow aquifers have developed. With the change from furrow to sprinkler or drip irrigation, on top of drought conditions, there will be less water percolating into the ground. “That’s going to change the aquifer,” Chamberlin said.
Those irrigation practices, though, plus the piping of irrigation ditches, such as laterals and canals, are major water conservation measures, as well as water quality measures, Jerry Erstrom, grant writer for Vale Oregon Irrigation District, said.
The installation of pipelines through the district has reduced seepage and evaporation, and farmers have installed pump-back systems, which allows them to use their runoff again and again, which also saves water and keeps the irrigation water out of local streams.
Erstrom estimated that 150,000 feet of pipe have been installed through the Vale Oregon Irrigation District. All irrigation districts have similar projects.
“The West is changing,” Chamberlin said. “You’re seeing a lot more flexibility (in the use of water).”
These may include such things as water sharing or leasing.
“The resource is a moving target,” he said. “A lot of people don’t realize there are cycles. We should be prepared for extreme weather conditions.”
