John Day Basin water supply looks adequate

Published 4:00 pm Tuesday, February 17, 2004

The 2004 Water Year had a slow beginning, with most basins in Oregon having below average precipitation in the early fall. However, near the end of December, winter storms began and the snowpack in the mountains of Oregon really began to increase.

The mountain snowpack was 113 percent of average as of Jan. 1 in the John Day Basin.-December precipitation was 130 percent of average.-This amount brings the total precipitation since the start of the water year to 96 percent of average. The streamflow forecasts for the coming spring and summer months are between 114 percent of average on Mountain Creek and 93 percent of average on the North Fork of the John Day.-Adequate water supplies are expected for users in the basin this year.

This forecast assumes normal weather conditions will occur from now to the end of the forecast period.-The forecast is a result of coordinated activity between the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the National Weather Service as an effort to provide the best possible service to water users.-

This report contains data furnished by the Oregon Department of Water Resources, U.S. Geological Survey, NOAA, National Weather Service and other cooperators.