Year's Final Water Supply Report for Oregon Now Available

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact information:
Jon Lea, USDA NRCS Snow Survey Team Leader: (503) 414-3267, Jon.Lea@or.usda.gov

PORTLAND, OR, June 16, 2009 – The year’s final water supply report for Oregon was released last week by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The June Oregon Basin Outlook Report provides information on reservoir storage and statewide streamflow forecasts for the April to September growing season.

Although the month of May started out cooler and wetter than normal, temperatures at the end of the month warmed significantly and hastened the snowmelt throughout Oregon.

“Only 20 of the 78 monitoring sites operated by NRCS recorded any snow on June 1,” said Jon Lea, snow survey supervisor for NRCS.

Since the beginning of the water year, precipitation for most basins in the state has been near average. May precipitation varied greatly throughout the state, with the monthly totals ranging from 149 percent of average for the Klamath Basin to 77 percent of average for the Owyhee and Malheur Basins.

Below average precipitation in areas has contributed to the abnormally dry to moderate drought conditions indicated by the current US Drought Monitor for Malheur County, most of Lake County, the southern half of Baker and Harney Counties, and the southeast corner of Klamath County. The Drought Monitor can be found at: http://drought.unl.edu/DM/MONITOR.html

In addition, many irrigation reservoirs in southeastern Oregon are not expected to fill completely this year. Reservoirs in Lake County and Goose Lake, Klamath, and the Owyhee and Malheur basins have received the peak of the winter runoff and are far from full. Water users in these basins face limited supplies this coming summer.

Water storage at the 26 major Oregon reservoirs analyzed for the June Oregon Basin Outlook Report was 78 percent of average. A total of 2,008,200 acre-feet of water were stored on June 1, representing 62 percent of useable capacity. Last year at this time, these same reservoirs stored 2,227,200 acre feet of water.

Observed streamflow in many areas reflected the May snow melt. The June through September streamflow forecasts range from 48 percent of average on Honey Creek near Plush and on the Owyhee River near Rome to 121 percent of average on the Umatilla River at Pendleton. Due in part to below normal snowpacks, water users in the basins of southeast Oregon can expect that the flows will be reduced. Elsewhere in the state, water users can expect a wide range of conditions.

The Oregon Basin Outlook Report can be found at: http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/cgibin/bor.pl

For additional information, please contact Snow Survey Staff at (503) 414-3267.
 

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