It’s a green, fragrant, leafy drought

Things couldn’t be looking more lush in Boise – the hills are uncharacteristically green, flowers are blooming all over the place, nearby Lucky Peak Reservoir is full and sparkling, and frequent spring rains keep causing mini-flash floods in the streets and leaving standing water here and there. But today, Gov. Dirk Kempthorne made if official: It’s a drought. The governor declared a drought emergency in Ada County.

That’s because irrigation water here comes from the Boise River, and forecasts are that the river’s flows will only hit 60 percent of average this year. Lucky Peak won’t stay full, either. County commissioners requested the drought declaration so temporary water rights can be sought and so forth; Ada is the 19th Idaho county to get a drought emergency declaration so far this year.