LOVELOCK - While the snowpack values in the Sierra Nevada around Tahoe and Truckee are well above average for this time of year, the central and northern Nevada mountain ranges got off to a slow start for this water year. According to Natural Resources Conservation Service Hydrologist Dan Greenlee, who also is the Nevada Snow Survey Program Manager, the Ruby Mountains were at only at 88 percent of average for snow-water content last week. Even though the Ruby Mountains are well above last year's Jan. 1 report of 25 percent of average, Greenlee is not predicting a good water year for those of us in the central and northern Nevada areas. "With this cold spell and the lack of snow that goes along with it, I expect the February numbers will be even lower," Greenlee said last week. The snow runoff from the Ruby Mountains is what feeds the Humboldt River. "The water supply outlook for the lower Humboldt River looks grim right now. What we need is a few more good storms, but I'm not seeing anything like that in the near future," Greenlee said. According to the NRCS Nevada Basin Outlook Report for the Lower Humboldt River, stream flows are expected to be well below average. The Humboldt River near Imlay is expected to flow at 72 percent of average during the March-July forecast period and at 69 percent of average or during the April-July forecast period. Even with December's 165 percent of average precipitation, it was not enough to make up for last year's December precipitation of only 9 percent of average. If conditions continue this way, and with little precipitation in sight, local farmers could experience shortages with their crop irrigation this spring and summer. Irrigation water for Lovelock farmers comes from the Rye Patch Reservoir. Water accumulated upstream in the Pitt Taylor Dam and reservoir from the 2011 water year helped local farmers with their 2012 irrigation season, but unless there is a lot more precipitation before April 1, the end of the water year, farmers may experience problems this year. As of the last day of December, Rye Patch Reservoir was only at 9 percent of its capacity, Greenlee said. There were only 17,800 acre- feet of water in the reservoir on the last day of December, according to the NRCS report. This is considerably lower than last year's 125,300 acre-feet. At this time last year, the reservoir was at 138 percent of average.[[In-content Ad]]
