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Snowfall bodes well for water year
By Jim Cornelius

Water users are cautiously optimistic that substantial snowfalls of this winter will turn around drought conditions that parched the region last year.

Deschutes County Water Master Kyle Gorman likes what he sees, but he's not quite ready to call the storms a drought-buster.

"If it keeps snowing like it did this morning (February 8) I'd say so, but I don't want to say yet," Gorman said.

Actually, according to Gorman, evidence that the region is out of the drought will not be in until April. If there are no chinooks to prematurely melt off the snowpack and conditions are still nice and wet, it might then be time to say the drought is done.

Squaw Creek can pretty much count on good runoff, Gorman said.

The measuring station at Three Creek Meadow counts 19.0 inches of water content in the snow. That's nearly six inches more than the usual 13.3 inches -- 143 percent of normal. Overall precipitation stands at 109 percent of normal.

In small watersheds like Squaw Creek, a good snowpack translates directly to good runoff, Gorman said. In larger watersheds, it's more complicated.

The Deschutes Basin "is a big system that is slow to respond," Gorman said.

However, signs are good. Basin-wide precipitation is above normal (106 percent) and the water content of the snowpack stands at 134 percent.

So, with a few more decent snowstorms the region may be headed for a good water year.

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