Twin Falls Canal Company Preparing for Short Water Season

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KLIX)-As spring approaches the Twin Falls Canal Company says it is preparing for a short irrigation season under the current weather forecast. In an email to KLIX News Radio, Twin Falls Canal Company General Manager Jay Barlogi said preparation is underway for the upcoming 2022 water season as farmers get close to irrigating their fields. So far the water supply for the Twin Falls Canal system is only at 49% reservoir capacity as a result of the last irrigation season depleting the system. Barlogi also noted the current Snow Water Equivalent in the watershed is at around 75 percent of the median. With current conditions the canal company is planning on delaying the start of the irrigation season depending on the weather. Barlogi also said that they'll make reductions in water delivery in the early part of the season to stretch what water they have now into later in the season. In a recent article in the Associate Press, hydrologist David Hoekema, with the Idaho Department of Water Resources, said the southern part of the Gem state is headed towards drought. He said it will take more than a average year to recover from the last few years of drought in some areas of the state. The AP reported that in 2021 southern Idaho had seen its driest season since 1924. Last year the Twin Falls Canal Company had to cut back on the amount of water it sent to shareholders to make it to the end of the irrigation season.