Owyhee district will start water April 4
ONTARIO, Ore. — Water will start flowing into the Owyhee Irrigation District’s 400 miles of canals, laterals and ditches a week earlier than planned.
OID board members have decided to start the system on April 4 rather than April 11 in part because persistent high winds have dried soils out and a lot of farmers have already planted, said district manager Jay Chamberlin.
“We figured if we waited until the 11th, we would be behind the eight ball,’ he said.
OID provides irrigation water for 1,800 farms and 118,000 acres in Eastern Oregon and part of southwestern Idaho.
OID board member and farmer Frank Ausman said there are spots on the system near Adrian with lighter soils that dry out quicker than other soil in the area.
“Those guys have a lot planted and they’re needing a drink,” he said.
That area near Adrian didn’t receive some of the rainstorms other areas did, said farmer and OID board member Bruce Corn.
Temperatures are also starting to reach into the 70s.
“It will take seven to 10 days for the water to get clear to the end of the system,” Corn said. “I think everybody will be ready for it by the time it comes.”
The board set the 2016 allotment for OID patrons at an initial 3 acre-feet but it’s expected to increase as the Owyhee Reservoir continues to fill.
The board opted not to increase the allotment during its March 30 meeting, Chamberlin said, in part because reservoir in-flow levels decreased a little bit recently as cooler temperatures slowed the pace of snow melt.
Corn said board members are conservative on where they set the allotment.
“It’s easy to raise it but if we over-allocate and then have to lower it, that would be difficult on people who have already made plans,” he said.
Corn anticipates the allotment will be increased April 19 during the board’s regular monthly meeting but he said it’s too soon to say whether patrons will receive their full 4 acre-foot allotment.
“I think everybody knows the allotment will be increased some amount. How much still remains to be seen,” he said.
The Owyhee Reservoir had 402,000 acre-feet of usable storage water as of March 30, which is 56 percent of it’s total capacity.
Based on U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and Natural Resources Conservation Service estimates, between 250,000 and 400,000 acre-feet of water is still headed for the reservoir this year.
Farmers in the region have received only a small portion of their full 4 acre-foot allotment the past three years and this year’s positive water outlook couldn’t have come too soon, said Ausman, who owns a dairy and normally grows his own feed on 300 acres.
However, he hasn’t received enough water to meet all his feed demands recently and has had to purchase it elsewhere.
“Between that and low milk prices, it’s starting to take a toll,” he said. “The last three years have been a killer for me.”