East Idaho reservoirs aren’t full, but water outlook isn’t bad
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IDAHO FALLS — The amount of water in local reservoirs and in the rapidly melting snowpack looks to be a little lower than expected this year.
“I think things are looking good as far as that goes at this time,” said Rod Dalling, a local farmer and canal worker. “We’re always subject to future weather. That’s the hard factor that we can never figure out how to handle.”
Water District 1 Watermaster Lyle Swank tells EastIdahoNews.com there isn’t enough quite enough water to support irrigation, but it is still early in the season.
“There’s not enough combination of snowpack and reservoir content to fill the reservoir system of the Upper Snake River,” Swank said.
He is hopeful precipitation in the coming months will meet the small deficit.
Swank said reservoir levels indicate that compared to the last 30 years, they are close to the expected average, and the snowpack is a little behind the expected average.
It is still too early to tell for certain, as the possibility of more winter storms and precipitation still exist. He said that even if snowmelt doesn’t produce enough water to fill the reservoirs, precipitation could.
Dale Swensen, executive director with the Fremont-Madison Irrigation District, expressed similar concerns.
“There isn’t enough water, at least at this point, (but) we still have some winter left to come,” Swensen said.
He said the hope is for more snowpack, because it is easier to predict the amount of water generated from runoff, than from rainfall.
Swank said that last year although the snowpack melted early in February with warmer weather, but May rains still managed to provide adequate water for the reservoir and irrigation systems.
With rain and precipitation being so unpredictable, Swank said it could be springtime before anyone knows for certain whether there is enough water.
The problem of water rights
Swenson noted that one complex problem related to filling the reservoirs and supplying growers with enough water is legal water rights.
“Island Park could be physically full, but we may not own all the water that’s in it. Some of the water would belong to American Falls,” he said.
Swenson and Fremont-Madison irrigation handle the operation and maintenance of Island Park and Grassy Lake dams, which provide water to areas in both Madison and Fremont counties.
He said it is especially important for the Island Park reservoirs to fill so the growers he is responsible for can get the water they need.
Dalling said that although farmers and those working with the water supply will do their best, nothing is certain.
“It’s always a gamble. That’s the business we’re in. We don’t have any assurances and we keep trying to shore up our water supplies and make them better,” he said.