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Snowpack is striking in its normalcy Despite the happy news, water experts aren't ready to declare the drought finished By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune ASHLAND - Average may not mean much most years, but it gets a high grade from Steve Johnson this year. The snow ranger for the Ashland Ranger District in the Rogue River National Forest reports the snowpack level and water content at three high-elevation sites on Mount Ashland are about 98 percent of average at the end of the snow survey season. "It's about as normal as normal could be," Johnson said, later adding, "That's a lot better than what we had at this time last year." Consider this: The survey site at the Mount Ashland Switchback, elevation 6,500 feet, had 71 inches of snow containing 31.3 inches of water for 98 percent of average on both counts. During last year's drought, the water content at the site was only 40 percent of average - 51/2 inches - at the end of April. At the Ski Bowl Road site, elevation 6,000 feet, Johnson found 53 inches of snow with a water content of 22.7 inches. The Caliban II site at 6,500 feet had 76 inches of snow containing 31.5 inches of water. The mountain snowpack provides a bank of water for late spring and summer streamflow and reservoir storage. Measurements are taken at the end of December, January, February, March and April. The snowpack in the mountains ringing the Rogue-Umpqua Basin is about 87 percent of average for the end of April, according to the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service. Snow survey information gathered by the Forest Service is shared with the agency. Warm weather earlier in April melted much of the mid-elevation snowpack, Johnson said. "The significant accumulation is generally over by the end of April," he said. "But it's not uncommon to see some snow in May." In fact, between eight and 10 inches of snow was dumped on Mount Ashland Monday night, according to a Ski Ashland spokesman. The ski facility is closed for the season, although the area is still being used by cross-country skiers wanting to get in one more day on the mountain before warm weather arrives. While the snowpack average for the basin is about 87 percent, sites in the south Cascade Range are faring a little better, observed Jon Lea, a hydrologist with the NRCS snow survey office in Portland. "It's really a mixed bag in the Rogue and Umpqua basins," he said. "The high elevations have a good snowpack with better than 110 percent on the Cascade side." The snow survey site at Seven Mile Marsh had 25.6 inches of snow water, reflecting 112 percent of average for this time of year, Lea said. Another site at the Billy Creek Divide had 13.8 inches of snow water, showing 130 percent of average. The sites in the high Cascades between the Rogue and Klamath basins are two of nine regional remote snow telemetry sites that provide automatic readings four times daily to the NRCS office. "We're definitely in better shape than last year," Lea said of the snowpack. "But it will still take some skill to manage the water supplies to meet the demands of everyone who needs it." Jim Pendleton, manager of the Talent Irrigation District, concurred. The problem is that last year's drought left a legacy of extremely low soil moisture and low reservoirs, he said. "We had to draw the resources down so severely last year that our storage isn't as good as it was last year at this time," he explained. Storage at Howard Prairie and Hyatt Lake reservoirs was about 55 percent of normal before the last storm hit. Emigrant Lake storage was at about 88 percent of average. "But our snowpack is better than it was last year," Pendleton said. "If we keep having these little storms like we just had (Monday night), the outlook would be real good. That gives us a little shot in the arm." Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.