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<br />O:"l~4')" <br />_'V....VV <br /> <br />Oregon, Conditions fiuctuated somewhat in some areas throughout the year; but, <br />by year's end, overall conditions had generally degraded, By September 30, 1990, <br />most basins in Oregon had storage conditions of less than 70 percent of normal <br />and some less than 50 percent of normal. In southern Idaho, most storage was <br />less than 50 percent of normal at the end of the year, with the exception of the <br />Payette River where storage was above normal. Storage in Washington and <br />northwestern Montana was near normal at year's end, <br /> <br />Notwithstanding localized water supply conditions in water year 1990, project <br />water deliveries were near normal to normal. Notable exceptions were in the <br />Boise River basin in Idaho and in the Mulheur and Crooked Rivers basins in <br />Oregon, Overall, irrigation demand in the Boise River basin averaged only <br />80 percent of normal, indicating that farmers were conserving water, End-of-year <br />storage in the Boise River basin was only 58 percent of normal; but that level is <br />very good, considering the poor streamflow and low reservoir storage at the <br />beginning of the season, End-of-year storage in PrinevilIe Reservoir in the <br />Crooked River Project in Oregon was 62 percent of normal-the second lowest end- <br />of-year storage in the project's 30-year history, <br /> <br />Projected Conditions for 1991 <br /> <br />Reclamation will begin to forecast the 1991 season runoff early in January 1991, <br />when the first snowpack observations are made, No water supply predictions are <br />made during the fall unless a special need arises, and in such instances only <br />reservoir refill probability estimates based on historical data are possible, <br /> <br />In general, end of season carryover storage is below normal and below last year's <br />volume in many projects within the region, The Minidoka Project (Idaho- <br />Wyoming) storage is 37 percent of normal, Boise Project (Idaho) storage is <br />57 percent of normal, and Owyhee Project (Idaho-Oregon) storage is 52 percent of <br />normal. Vale Project (Oregon) storage was completely depleted in mid-August and <br />now remains near empty, with less than 1 percent of normal storage, The <br />Crooked River Project (Oregon) storage is 54 percent of normal, and storage in the <br />Rogue River basin (Oregon) is 52 percent. of normal. Above average runoff next <br />year at the above projects would recover the storage reserves. <br /> <br />Yakima Project (Washington) storage is very near normal (96 percent), having had <br />a normal 1990 season, Following a careful irrigation operation, the Payette River <br />(Idaho) system storage is 120 percent of normal, despite well below average runoff <br />in 1990, <br /> <br />4 <br />