03/17/05 Any hope for snow pack?, Finale

It was a significant dumping of mountain snow in March, coupled by cool, wet weather in the late spring that kept the summer of 1977, the driest in the Northwest in almost thirty years, from being significantly worse. That's according to Ron Ambromovich of U.S.D.A.'s Natural Resources Conservation Service Boise office. ABROMOVICH: We had a cool wet spring until mid-May and then we had record high temperatures in late May that flushed the remaining snow pack right out. And that's what really we want to do is preserve the mountain snow pack in the higher elevations as late in the year as we can, because there's not much to go around, and once it runs out, it's out. To keep the summer of 2005, on par so far with 1977, from becoming drier, similar weather conditions must take place during the spring months. It may not be the dump of snow that helped prevent a greater drought in 1977, but many were rejoicing with news of the National Weather Services snow advisory yesterday for the Cascades, with accumulations expected from three inches to a foot depending on location. Scott Pattee of U.S.D.A.'s Natural Resources Conservation Service Spokane office says no doubt the new snow will bolster the at and near record low levels at SNOTEL stations in the Northwest. But the real question is will the late snow make much of a difference. Pattee says the answer depends on whether the region will remain cool and wet through the remainder of spring. PATTEE: Once we get through March, we're pretty much done collecting snow pack data for the most part, and especially if we get bare ground, if we do get new snow like in April on bare ground, it's not going to last very long, because you get the soil-snow-heat interphase thing. New snow on it just wouldn't last very long on it at all. So far most of the worries of drought like conditions in the Northwest have focused on the tributaries feeding into the Columbia  Snake River system. But for those areas that irrigate from the waters of the main stem of the Columbia, the good news is that Canadian snow pack levels are near normal, meaning runoff should feed consistent water supplies. That is evidenced in reports that projected runoff for the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project should come in at eighty per cent of normal amounts for 2005. But still, many a grower, rate payer, and industry in the Northwest are hoping for a cool, wet spring, and are hoping that despite all the plans for drought preparations and emergency declarations, there will be enough water for their use and their livelihood in 2005.