2 sides to water

2 sides to water

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
Water, water, everywhere from Cassia County farm country to the famous glory hole on Owyhee Lake and the roaring, like never before Caldron Lin on the Snake River near Murtaugh, Idaho is blessed with water. “From a recharge standpoint, this is going to be a really great year.” Wesley Hitke, recharge program manager for the Idaho Department of Water Resources says the spring of 2017 is the perfect storm for adding to Idaho's underground water bank. "There's a lot of natural recharge going on. Over the ESPA there has been a lot of snow. Obviously a lot of it is run off but a lot of that is going to infiltrate into the aquifer. So just from what would normally happen, this is going to be a really great year. That is for the manager recharge part of it. This is recharge that was not going to happen otherwise, this is going to be a really great year given the amount of water we have had to work with.” But isn't it strange how there are two sides to every story. Recharge authorities are loving the amount of snow we have received but last week, Idaho Farm Bureau reporter Jake Putnam talked about the woe to Southern Idaho grain farmers. “Snow and rain this year has created perfect conditions for a wave of fungal diseases not seen in years. University of Idaho Extension grain pathologists say that heavy Southern Idaho snows has led to snow mold in grain fields across Southern Idaho. Snow molds are diseases caused by fungi and attack small grain crops under snow cover or in cool, wet weather”.

 

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