Snowpacks High In Southern, Central Idaho

With nearly two-thirds of the snow season over, virtually all of the mountain snowpacks across central and southern Idaho are higher than average for this time of year.

That is important because it means full reservoirs and high rivers, which will benefit farmers and boaters as well as helping a critical generation of young salmon and steelhead reach the sea.

“It looks to be shaping up to be another excellent water year,” said Phil Morrisey, a hydrologist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service. “We could drop to belownormal snowfall in the next two months and still have a good snowpack.”

November, December and January are the top snow-producing months of the year, Morrisey said, adding snowpacks typically peak around April 1.

The cornerstone of southern Idaho’s water supply is the Snake River basin upstream of Palisades Reservoir, where snowpacks are 34 percent larger than the long-term average for this time of year.

“That basin has been high all year, and it’s still creeping upwards,” he said.

Farther north, snowpacks in the Panhandle are languishing below normal levels, Morrisey said.

The upper Snake River reservoir system was 86 percent full on Friday, said Mike Beus with the Bureau of Reclamation in Burley.