http://www.heraldandnews.com/articles/2003/12/17/news/agriculture/ag02.txt

Heavy snowfall helps water year

published Dec. 17, 2003

Recent heavy snowfall in the mountains has the current water year off to a good start.

"We like to see the rain and snow we've been getting recently, it's a good help," said Jim Little, meteorologist with the Oregon Department of Agriculture. "If we don't have the water, we will have trouble next summer. That has been the case in many areas the last couple of summers."

Oregon doesn't receive the summer rainfall that helps agriculture in the Midwest and other parts of the country. Instead, Oregon farmers and ranchers rely on irrigation which, in turn, feeds off streams and reservoirs.

The turn in last month's weather is a welcome sight to anyone who will need water in the summer of 2004.

"Last year, we started very slow in the snow department," said Stan Fox, hydrologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service. "We didn't add a lot to the snowpack until March and April. That was very late in the year and somewhat unusual. I like the start we are having this year."

Fox says it would be even better had there been a bit more rainfall prior to the recent snow in the mountains. That early rain could have soaked the ground to the point that any melting snow next spring would go directly into streams and rivers.

"A wet, snowy November doesn't necessarily set the stage for the rest of winter," says ODA's Little. "But we can keep our fingers crossed that's the case this year."

- By Brian Cole

 

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