Water Supply Forecast Shows Record Snow in Northern Parts of West, Parched in Southwest

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Spencer Miller, Natural Resources Conservation Service, on April 14, 2014 at 1:00 PM

Streamflow in the West consists largely of accumulated mountain snow that melts and flows into streams as temperatures warm. (NRCS photo)

March storms increased snowpack in the northern half of the West but didn’t provide much relief for the dry southern half, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Water and Climate Center (NWCC) in its April 2014 water supply forecast.

According to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), most of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and northern parts of Colorado and Utah are expected to have near normal or above normal water supplies, according to the forecast.  Far below normal streamflow is expected for southern Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, southern Utah and western Nevada.

Early April is commonly regarded as the transition from snow accumulation to snowmelt, making the April 1 water supply forecast of key importance for planning, according to NWCC hydrologist Cara McCarthy.

“Many water managers, reservoir operators, irrigation districts and hydroelectric power companies make significant strategic decisions based on the April forecasts,” McCarthy said.

In states where snowmelt accounts for the majority of the seasonal water supply, information about snowpack serves as an indicator of future water supply. Streamflow in the West consists largely of accumulated mountain snow that melts and flows into streams as temperatures warm. NRCS scientists analyze the snowpack, air temperature, soil moisture and other measurements taken from remote sites to develop the water supply forecasts.

For the second consecutive month, many snow telemetry, or SNOTEL, sites in Montana, Wyoming, and parts of Idaho, Washington, and Oregon received two to three times the normal amount of precipitation. The Cascade Mountains in Washington went from extremely dry in January to a normal snowpack currently and Montana and Wyoming snowpack is now at record levels.

“There’s flooding potential in the Missouri River basin,” McCarthy said. “These areas will be most vulnerable if snow melts rapidly during a hot spell, or if there’s extreme rain while the streams are swollen with snowmelt.”

NRCS’ streamflow forecasts are one of the tools used to assess drought conditions. USDA is partnering with western states to help mitigate the severe effects of drought on agriculture.

Since 1939, NRCS has conducted snow surveys and issued regular water supply forecasts. Since the late 1970s, NRCS has been installing, operating and maintaining an extensive, high-elevation automated system called SNOTEL, designed to collect snowpack and related climatic data in the western U.S. and Alaska.

The center will continue to monitor and forecast water supplies for the next two months. View the April Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecast map or view information by state. And to learn more about how NRCS is helping private landowners deal with drought, visit NRCS’ drought resources. You can also visit USDA’s disaster and drought information page.

Watch the April water supply forecast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoK5Vdd3NUc

Scientists Discover New Fish Species in the Upper Columbia River Basin

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Carita Chan, Research and Development, U.S. Forest Service, on April 1, 2014 at 11:00 AM

Cedar sculpin (Cottus schitsuumsh). (Emily Harrington/E.H. Illustration)

U.S. Forest Service scientists at the Rocky Mountain Research Station in Missoula, Mont., have identified a new species of fish—the cedar sculpin (Cottus schitsuumsh). Although thousands of new species are described by scientists each year, only a small percentage of them are animal species, and even fewer are found in the United States, underscoring the importance of this discovery.

Freshwater sculpins, with their characteristic large heads and fins, are bottom dwellers that can be found in cold, fast-moving streams throughout North America. Biologists have long suspected that there were undescribed species of sculpins in the Upper Columbia River Basin, but lacked the tools to recognize them. Cedar sculpin populations were previously thought to be shorthead sculpin (Cottus confusus), an understandable misidentification given that sculpins are notoriously difficult to identify based on their physical features.

“Through our collaboration with the University of Montana, we uncovered morphological and genetic evidence demonstrating that two species have been masquerading under a single name for over 50 years,” said Michael Young, a Forest Service research fisheries biologist.

The new species of sculpin was discovered in the Coeur d’Alene and St. Joe River basins in Idaho and part of the Clark Fork River Basin in Montana. In naming the species, the scientists consulted with elders of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, whose historical homeland overlaps with the current range of this fish.  The scientific name for the species, Cottus schitsuumsh, is derived from the name for the Tribe, Schitsu’umsh, which means “those who were found here.” The common name refers to the western redcedar, a tree often found along streams in this region.

While not commercially valuable in and of themselves, sculpins are well-known to anglers as a food source for big trout—a famous fly pattern, the muddler minnow, is designed to resemble a sculpin—and as indicators of water quality. The cedar sculpin is abundant in tributaries that also support westslope cutthroat trout and bull trout.

Forest Service scientists and their partners believe that much hidden diversity remains among sculpin populations throughout the Western U.S., with additional species waiting to be identified. They are dedicated to helping unravel these mysteries in order to conserve and sustainably manage our natural resources.

Top, side and bottom view of a male cedar sculpin. (Zachary Randall) Used with permission.

Forest Service Wildlife Biologist Works to Conserve Fishers, Civil War History

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Beverly Carroll, Office of Communication, U.S. Forest Service, on December 2, 2013 at 4:30 PM

U.S. Forest Service biologist Betsy Howell is highlighted in Faces of the Forest, a special feature by the agency. (Courtesy Betsy Howell)

Betsy Howell has a professional and personal interest in conserving two diverse parts of U.S. history.

As a wildlife biologist on the Olympic National Forest in Washington State she focuses part of her work on the history and future of the fisher, a member of the weasel family considered threatened and endangered.

As a Civil War re-enactor and author, she works to preserve an integral part of our history as a nation.

“As a district biologist, I survey for different wildlife species including bald eagles, amphibians, fishers and martens,” she said. “I’m fortunate that a fair bit of my job involves field work, and I continue to be involved in remote camera survey work though the technology has changed tremendously since 1991.”

One of her most important projects is with the Olympic Peninsula Fisher Reintroduction Project, a multi-agency effort to reintroduce the fisher, a small member of the mustelid, or weasel, family.

“The work began after researchers had determined that fishers had become extirpated, that is locally extinct, on the peninsula, due to over trapping and habitat removal,” Howell said. “Through the use of remote cameras, we are now monitoring to see if they have become a self-sustaining population. We’re also partnering with Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation, a non-profit organization out of Bozeman, Mont., to determine if the Pacific marten, another mustelid, has also become extirpated from the peninsula.”

When not setting up remote cameras, Howell spends her spare time, usually before work and on weekends, writing essays on travel and natural history. She published a memoir about her father and great-great-grandfather and their lives as soldiers.

“My great-great-grandfather, James Heath, served as a private in the Union Army and kept journals during that time from 1862-1865,” she said. “My father, born in 1920, actually knew this man when he was a little boy and when he grew older was given James’ journals. Now they’re mine.”

The memoir became about their war experiences and how it impacted her life. But she found couldn’t leave the Civil War behind, so she started a novel.

“It has taken six years. Again, it’s hard to leave behind characters I’ve become so fond of, so now I’m working on a second novel told from the point of view of a minor character from the first novel,” she said.

Howell is one of a number of Forest Service employees highlighted in Faces of the Forest, a feature that introduces the public to the people, places and professions in the agency.

Betsy Howell started her career in 1986 as a spotted owl surveyor on the Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon. After graduation, she moved to the Siskiyou National Forest in Southwest Oregon and became a permanent employee. During her early career, Howell took a leave of absence to work for the Peace Corps. (FS photo)