Water situation looks good for the Weiser Basin at 137% of average

Published by admin on Wed, 04/09/2025 - 7:00pm
By: 
Pat Caldwell
WEISER – Weiser Irrigation District patrons can expect to have water by April 15 and probably enough of the wet stuff after that to make it well into summer.
 Ryan Davis, Weiser Irrigation District manager, said last week that Crane Creek Reservoir is full and the future outlook for water is “looking good.”
 “We will have our full water allotment,” he said.
 Mother Nature has been kind this year so far, the Snow Water Equivalent for the Weiser Basin stands at 137% of median, according to the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Snow water equivalent is a type of measurement that assess the amount of water held within snowpack. 
 “That’s pretty significant,” said Erin Whorton, a hydrologist/water supply specialist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Boise.
 Whorton said the Weiser Basin snow water equivalent is the highest in the state.
 “They peaked way above normal. About six more inches of snow water equivalent than they usually do. The storm cycles tended to favor western Idaho this year,” said Whorton. 
 Snowpack is critical for gauging the upcoming irrigation season which fuels the local agriculture industry. As snowpack melts it flows into the Weiser River and Crane Creek Reservoir, the two key irrigation water sources for the Weiser Basin. 
 Irrigators pull water from the river first and then, as the season progresses, draw what is called storage water from Crane Creek. 
 Unlike the irrigation water systems across the border in Malheur County – where a series of reservoirs collect water out of vast watersheds – the Weiser Irrigation District’s main supply of water comes from the Weiser River. 
 “We can’t hold it (water in the Weiser River). So, it is all about how the water comes off the mountains and into the river. Right now, it is looking good,” said Davis.
 Davis said last week the Weiser River was running at 3,640 cubic feet a second (cfs). 
 “We’ve been up to 4,500 cfs this year,” he said. 
 Davis said weather conditions are also helping set the stage for a good irrigation season.
 “If we keep getting these warmups and cool downs, we may make it to July before we turn on storage water,” he said.
 Davis said the allotment out of Crane Creek Reservoir for storage water will be 1.2-acre feet. As the season moves into June and early July the district “kind of co-mingles” water from Crane Creek and the Weiser River.
 “I can tell you in the Weiser Irrigation District you get about 3½ acre feet of water on an average year,” he said. An acre foot of water is enough to submerge an acre with water to the depth of 1 foot.  
 The Weiser Irrigation District provides water for 15,000 acres of farmland, said Davis.
 Davis said Mother Nature’s fickle character could change the irrigation paradigm, especially if the climate warms up significantly and “the snow comes off fast and we have flooding.”
 “I’d prefer it to stay the way it is,” he said.
 

 

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Signal American

18 E. Idaho St.
Weiser, ID 83672
PH: (208) 549-1717
FAX: (208) 549-1718
 

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