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

USDA Collection Preserves Garlic's Genetic Diversity

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Jan Suszkiw, USDA Agricultural Research Service Information Staff, on March 25, 2014 at 2:00 PM

“This group of diverse garlic germplasm represents all the types that might be found at a farmer’s market.” Photo courtesy of Barbara Hellier, ARS

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from the USDA’s rich science and research portfolio.

Raw or dehydrated, garlic is a staple ingredient in dishes the world over. This herb, Allium sativum, is also the focus of medical research investigating the health-imparting properties of allicin, a compound that gives garlic its pungent aroma and flavor.

Americans consumed 2.3 pounds of garlic per person in 2010. Perhaps most familiar to consumers is the large white bulb commonly sold in supermarkets. But there’s more diversity there than meets the eye, or the taste buds, says USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) horticulturist Barbara Hellier.

It’s no exaggeration to say Hellier knows her garlic—and her leeks, chives, shallots, and wild onions, for that matter.

Hellier is curator of the National Plant Germplasm System’s Allium Collection at the ARS Western Regional Plant Introduction Station in Pullman, Wash. She oversees the maintenance, description, and distribution of 293 garlic specimens, 16 primitive garlics, 207 leeks, 44 chives, and 579 wild, ornamental and native Allium species.

“What we see in supermarkets is generally one type—a white softneck type and elephant garlic, which isn’t really garlic, but rather a type of leek,” Hellier says. Garlic lovers with a taste for something a bit more diverse might try a farmer’s market, for example, or place an order with a specialty grower. “At a farmer’s market, shoppers are likely to come across more of the true diversity of garlic, like the hardneck purple to purple-stripe types; small, pearly white silverskins; creole-type hardneck with red clove skin; or  white hardnecks with fiery hot taste.”

The Pullman collection includes garlic specimens acquired from around the world—but especially Central Asia, the crop’s point of origin—and serves as a backup to varieties grown commercially in the United States.

Today’s garlic is vegetatively propagated, meaning it’s grown from cloves, not seed. However, “There is no potential for breeding new varieties with vegetatively produced plants,” notes Hellier.  Recently, she and ARS colleague Phil Simon have been assisting small-scale growers seeking to reverse that trend using several of the collection’s seed-producing garlics.

“It will be interesting to watch what comes from the efforts of these growers trying to produce true seed,” she says. “They have passion for garlic and are looking for novel traits.”