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43 °F Forecast | Road Cams Sunday, April 3, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 3, 2005 Rain came just in time for start of irrigation deliveries By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune The past week’s rainstorms helped jump-start Friday’s official beginning of the irrigation season, allowing some ranchers and irrigation districts to hold off dipping into water reserves. Last weekend’s rains, which dumped more than an inch of precipitation in some areas of Jackson County, soaked the soil enough that the April 1 irrigation turn-on came and went with many canals remaining dry. Just two weeks ago, Jackson County Watermaster Larry Menteer worried that his office would have to shut off water deliveries from Rogue River Basin tributary streams that were running at their lowest March levels ever recorded. But Menteer didn’t have to restrict irrigators with younger, "junior" water rights Friday in favor of senior water-right holders under Oregon’s "first in time, first in right" water-rights laws. "I believe this front we had gave us a jump-start to the irrigation season," Menteer said Friday. "It gives us the conditions that we’d like to see when irrigation season starts — better stream conditions and ground that’s somewhat saturated." Advertisement The rains allowed the Talent Irrigation District to keep the majority of its canals dry now, relying on damp soils getting another dose of rain over the weekend to string out the season start. TID Manager Jim Pendleton said the district’s board was set to meet Tuesday and decide when to begin delivering water to its 3,300 patrons who irrigate 16,400 acres, making it the county’s largest district. TID likely will begin delivering water sometime during the week of April 11, Pendleton said. "It shouldn’t hurt anybody to go another week or two," Pendleton said. "If we start two weeks earlier, then we have to shut off two weeks earlier." Pendleton, Menteer and other water-watchers are banking that another storm front forecast for this weekend will naturally irrigate farms, fields and pastures. The National Weather Service predicts the rain could last into Monday morning. "By the time everything’s done, it will bring about one-tenth to almost four-tenths (of an inch) in Medford and higher amounts surrounding us in about every direction," said meteorologist Sven Nelaimischkies at the service’s Medford office. The spring rains were warmly welcomed in a region parched by a dry winter, but it has not washed away prospects of a summer drought, Menteer said. The Rogue Basin snowpack on Friday registered 43 percent of average — up from last week’s 29 percent of average but still well below what is considered a normal water year here. Irrigators who rely on stored water likely will fare better than those who irrigate directly from tributary streams, Menteer said. "There’s adequate stream flow now, but I still think the tributaries are problematic," Menteer said. Menteer and Jackson County commissioners will not follow the example of Klamath and other counties which requested an early drought declaration from Gov. Ted Kulongoski. It’s possible that a string of spring storms could allow Rogue Basin irrigators to limp through the water year without formal drought status, Menteer said. "I think it’s still too early to tell," Menteer said. "We need to watch those fronts and see if they bring us anything. "Only time will tell if the conditions worsen, stabilize or get better," he said. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Distance Education Diamonds Slippers Student Loans afsa teleconferencing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Tatoo Fasa Advertisement s