For the week of June 24 thru June 30, 1998  

Water, water everywhere

Rain and snow fall heavier this Spring


By ALYSON WILSON
Express Staff Writer

Anyone who saw the Wood River Valley during June of last year knows there is a lot more snow on Blaine County’s northern peaks this season.

"There was more rain here, more snow in higher elevations and a slower melt," said District Conservationist Gale Roberts of the National Conservation Service of local weather conditions this Spring.

In fact, there is 136 percent more water stored in the snowpack throughout local measuring points than normal.

Though this year’s snow levels were lower overall than last year’s, a late-season upswing of precipitation and cooler temperatures mean more water in the Big Wood River further into the summer, Roberts said.

Information from the Ketchum Ranger District measured 7.06 inches of precipitation between May 1 and June 22 this year compared with last year’s 1.34 inches.

The Wood River Valley has not yet reached the melt-out point, though it came in mid-April last year, Roberts stated.

This late melt bodes well for residents who rely heavily on surface water rights to irrigate their land, but will hinder early summer trail use.

"It’s very positive as far as irrigators from above Magic [Reservoir] are concerned," Roberts said, adding, "it will be limiting for backcountry access."

Last May, Roberts expressed concern on the part of his department about water availability for local growers who relied on heavy spring melts to fuel their surface water rights.

Monday, 15 inches of water were held in the snow-pack on Dollarhide Summit, out Warm Springs Road north-west of Ketchum.

By this time last year, all the snow had melted off Dollarhide.

 

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