Deeper High Desert snowpack means more summer water

A survey team led by Kurt Moffitt, a soil scientist, conducted surveys Thursday to measure the snow depth at west of Bend near Mt. Bachelor for the last time this season.

“We sample the snow using a core, and with that core we can figure the depth of the snow,” Moffitt said.

It was a very different picture at the Wanoga Sno-Park this year.

“Last year, there wasn’t any snow at this survey site at all, so there’s been a lot of improvement,” Moffitt said.

Thursday’s survey was the last for the season.

“It’s a very important survey because typically this represents the peak of the snow pack,” Moffitt said.

And that peak has been a lot higher than zero. Some totals even required the use of all three depth cylinders to measure.

Some depths were around 40 inches, but the real weight is in the water supply itself.

“We weigh the cores, and then we can figure out the density of the snow,” Moffitt said. “After that, we can see how much water is in the snow if it was melted down.”

More snow means our water supply for the year — for irrigation, recreation and the environment –is looking much better.

“As of today, we are doing fairly well,” he said. “Our site up at Dutchman Flat was 128 percent of the 30-year normal.”

According to the National Weather Service and climate scientists, it will still take a few more years of improvement to completely get out of our recent drought.

At least this survey shows that we’re heading in the right direction.