Скачать или смотреть Here is how two straight low-water years are affecting Boise River flows

For the second year in a row, the Boise River basin's water supply is well below normal. On Wednesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said that means the recreation season on Lucky Peak Reservoir may likely be shortened.

Flows from Lucky Peak Dam will continue at minimum releases of 220 cubic feet per second in order to conserve "as much water as possible" before irrigation season, expected to start later in April, the Corps of Engineers said.

The National Weather Service reports precipitation totals for the water year beginning Oct. 1, 2021, and ending April 1, 2022, were 85 percent of normal. Seasonal snowpack was 65 percent of median. This follows a below-normal 2020-2021 water year, when nearly all of Idaho ended the water year in some level of drought and nearly 63 percent of the state was in "extreme" or "exceptional" drought. U.S. Drought Monitor data from March 29 indicates that this spring, more than 82 percent of Idaho already is in some kind of drought, ranging from "moderate" to "exceptional" -- D1 to D4 on a five-level scale that begins with D0, which indicates "abnormally dry," but not drought.

The low carryover from 2021, the low snowpack and precipitation this year, and other constraints on the system will make Lucky Peak difficult to fill. Regarding recreation, the Corps of Engineers said, "be aware of boat ramp accessibility with the potential for less water in Lucky Peak's reservoir this summer." More information about specific impacts to recreation will be released in future weeks, as spring runoff occurs. In 2021, the drawdown to the winter water level began weeks earlier than usual. An early drawdown in an already unusually low water year left some boats stuck on dry land by mid-August 2021.

Real-time flow rates recorded by the Bureau of Reclamation show that at 10:45 a.m. Wednesday, the Boise River flow rate at Glenwood Bridge, west of downtown Boise, was just over 258 cubic feet per second. That's below the 25th percentile for April 6, and less than half the median flow rate for that date, based on 40 years of water record.

Along with Lucky Peak Reservoir, the Corps of Engineers manages the Arrowrock and Anderson Ranch dams on the Boise River as a system for flood risk management and irrigation.