April boosts water supply

Even April’s showers couldn’t break the area’s bleak water supply outlook.

April brought 133 percent of average precipitation in the Panhandle — the second-best month since October — but water volumes in area streams are still predicted to be about half of normal, according to Thursday’s report from the Idaho Natural Resources Conservation Service.

“If the cool and wet conditions had not occurred in April, snowpacks across the board would have melted out much earlier,” said Ron Abramovich, NRCS water supply specialist. “Rivers would have peaked too soon.”

Cool weather and rain in the early and late parts April prevented a dire water situation from getting even worse.

“The storm cycle did not improve the water supply much, but it briefly stopped snowmelt and dropped the river levels,” the report states.

The May-September outlook for the North Fork Coeur d’Alene, St. Joe and Spokane rivers is for water volumes of 40 to 50 percent of average. The best forecast is for Priest River, which is forecast at 77 percent of average.

Winter left only about 14 inches of snowfall in the region compared to about 98 inches last year. 

North Idaho’s snowpack on May 1 was 60 percent of average. Statewide, levels range from 45 to 85 percent.

Of Idaho’s 28 major reservoirs, 22 report average or better storage for April 30, and 11 of them are nearly full.

“Reservoir operators are hoping the peak streamflows occur when they normally do in the latter half of May,” Abramovich said. “That way they can maximize water storage and delivery for all the various users and uses.”

The complete report is posted at www.id.nrcs.usda.gov/snow under “Water Supply.”