The outlook for Northwest irrigators is generally positive in 2007, with snowpack levels throughout most of the region hovering at average or above, said John Lea, supervisor of the National Resource Conservation Service snow survey program in Oregon.

Overall, Oregon was at 99 percent of normal at the end of 2006, a 7 percent increase over 2005 and more than double the 2004 level, Lea said on Jan. 29.

Washington had good snowpack levels virtually across the board – up to double the average rate in the Olympic Basin, and well above 100 percent almost everywhere else, according to the National Resource Conservation Service snow and precipitation data.

“We’re off to a really good start,” said Lea. “We’re just hoping the trend continues.”

Whether the relatively decent snowpack turns out to be a blessing or a misfortune in the coming months will depend on the weather between now and the spring snowmelt. Although an abundant snowpack can result in plentiful irrigation water during the summer, it can also lead to flooding under certain conditions.

“You always have flooding potential when you have a good snowpack,” he said. “I’m hoping we don’t have any more warm rainstorms. We want that snow to stay until it’s ready to melt off.”

The rainfall in Oregon was high in 2006 – about 126 percent of average at the end of the year – but the precipitation could end up having a positive effect. By saturating the ground, the rain allows more of the snowpack to run off as water in the springtime, said Lea. Washington also had high precipitation, with rates ranging between 122 and 167 percent of average at the end of the year.

“It’s good to have moist soil beneath the snowpack because it’s more efficient at getting the snowmelt into the streams,” he said. “If it’s dry soil, (the melting snow) would satisfy that deficit first off.”

In late 2006, however, the rain was a headache for growers in several parts of Oregon. Storms in November and December caused flooding and widespread power outages that may have some repercussions in 2007. Dairy farms in Tillamook County, one of four Oregon counties granted federal disaster aid as a result of a major storm and flood in early November, were among those most affected by the weather last year.

Although the flood was Tillamook’s worst since 1996, its impact was mitigated by several factors, said Mark Wustenberg, vice president of public affairs for the Tillamook County Creamery Association. For one, the most severe flooding occurred primarily in the Wilson River, Trask River, and the southern fork of the Nehalem River, largely concentrating the damage in those areas, he said. “The pattern was different than it was in the past.”

Furthermore, the 1996 flood caused Tillamook farmers to take precautionary steps such as buying generators and building “cow pads” that elevated the ground level by eight to 10 feet, Wustenberg said. Such raised areas were designed to provide sanctuary for cattle, and later many dairymen constructed new barns on top of them.

“The actual animal loss was one-fifth or less of what it was in 1996,” estimated Wustenberg.

Even so, growers may still face economic consequences in the spring; pastureland destroyed by silt deposits will require some growers to increase their feed costs and then spend additional money on re-seeding, he said.

For Joan Marti, who raises dairy cows with her husband Matthew in the Tillamook County town of Nehalem, the turbulent weather last year was difficult both financially and psychologically.

“In 1996, we really had a lot of damage, so emotionally, I do not do well in storms,” said Marti.

Precautions the family took after the 1996 storm reduced the damage they suffered during this year’s flood; no cows drowned, but six had to be culled or put down later as a result of stress from the storm.

Just when it seemed like they were finally back on their feet, however, the December storm hit. Damages to siding, roofing and the home structure topped $25,000 and Marti also took a revenue hit from lost milk production when the farm lost power for 96 hours.

“It’s really been a one-two punch to us so far, and it’s not even through, so it makes me nervous,” she said. “I hope it evens out. … We didn’t need to have the economic pressure this year.”

Though residents of Tillamook, Clatsop, Hood River and Lincoln counties bore the brunt of the rain so far, the state generally fared pretty well during the last two months of the year. Some rivers, such as portions of the Willamette, Pudding and Tualatin, had water levels approach or exceed “bank full,” and the Coquille River exceeded flood stage, but major flooding hasn’t been an issue so far, said George Taylor, Oregon’s climatologist.

“It’s been a wet couple of months, but nothing extreme,” he said. “We’ve had much wetter years just in the last 10 years.”

Precipitation levels will now likely remain normal for the rest of the winter, but unfortunately that doesn’t mean farmers in Tillamook County or elsewhere in Oregon can breathe a sigh of relief just yet, Taylor said. “We could still get anything at this point, and we may still get a little bit of everything.”

Mateusz Perkowski is based in Salem. His e-mail address is mperkowski@capitalpress.com.