NRCS: Much Of Idaho’s Snowpack In Good Shape

With April 1st just around the corner, the snowpack across Idaho is looking good for this time of year.  That’s the assessment from Erin Whorton with NRCS-Idaho, who noted that the Willow/Blackfoot/Portneuf as well as the Bear River basins above 150% of normal for this time of year, and the Owyhee at 163% of typical for this time of year.  She said while things are looking great in southern Idaho, northern Idaho is still pretty dry.

“These storm tracks haven't really reached and benefited our the farthest, north part of our state near the Canadian border.  So that's snow pack is still a little bit below normal but we've seen improvement in the Coeur d'Alene/St. Joe area the Clearwater/Salmon, those have all got back to normal conditions in the last few weeks.  So, I’m really happy with where we are in terms of snowpack right now."

Whorton noted that getting the snow in the higher elevations is only part of the equation.  She said the state needs cold temperatures up high to stave off the snow melt, and allow the melt to occur slowly.  Whorton said she can’t overstate the important of springtime weather when it comes to irrigation.

“I think those last two years have really illustrated the importance of spring weather.  Last year we had a cold wet spring that helped us out tremendously.  The year before water year ‘21, we had this hot, dry spring, that, you know, hurt folks.  So having a good snowpack I think just gives us an advantage this year, and if we have a wet spring, I think things will be hopefully looking good for a lot more folks this year.”

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