[env-trinity] Klamath Falls Herald & News

[Byron]

KLAMATH BASIN

Wet fall, dry winter ... wet spring? 

Klamath Falls Ore. Herald & News - 2/11/05

By Dylan Darling, staff writer

What's been a dry winter could make way for a wet spring if history holds
true, Oregon's state climatologist George Taylor says.

"Historically, dry winters preceded by a wet fall are very likely to be
followed by a wet spring," he said Thursday. 

It was wet last fall in the Klamath Basin.

October, the first month of the water year, saw 2.15 inches of precipitation
at the Kingsley Field weather station. The average for the month is .77 of
an inch. 

"There are always a lot of variables in rainfall for specific spots
throughout the region," said Taylor, who works at Oregon State University,
"but in general, August, September and October were wetter than average
throughout Oregon."

The winter has been dry, though. There was snow at the end of December and
the beginning of January. But save for scattered snow and bursts of rain,
that's been about it. 

The dry times and warm days have been typical throughout Oregon.
Southeastern Oregon has fared relatively better than the rest of the state,
Taylor said.

Statewide the snowpack is at 32 percent of average for this time of year. In
Klamath County it is at 53 percent. 

Even though the state's skimpy snowpack is worrisome, Taylor said, it isn't
necessarily ruinous. Snow typically keeps piling up in the mountains until
April 1.

"We still have time for it to build," Taylor said. "We certainly are not
going to make up our current deficit. But a wet spring accomplishes much the
same thing because it's coming closer to demand." 

Timing is the key, Taylor said. To make up for the light snowpack, Oregon
needs to receive the water just prior to demand, which rises in spring when
agricultural water use leaps.

A wet spring could help out the groundwater situation and fill up low
reservoirs, Taylor said. 

"It doesn't solve all the problems, but it certainly improves the
situation," he said.

With the urging of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the Klamath County Board
of Commissioners has asked the governor to declare a drought year in Klamath
County. 

As a member of the Oregon Drought Council, Taylor is one of the people
involved with that decision. The council meets Feb. 22 to discuss water
supplies and possible drought declarations. Comprised of state and federal
representatives, the council will assess the issues and then advise Gov. Ted
Kulongoski.

 

 

Byron Leydecker, 

Chair, Friends of Trinity River

Consultant, Californiua Trout, Inc.

PO Box 2327

Mill Valley, CA 94942-2327

415 383 4810 ph

415 383 9562 fx

415 519 4810 ce

bwl3 at comcast.net

bleydecker at stanfordalumni.org (secondary)

http://www.fotr.org

http://caltrout.org

 

 

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