Idaho Statesman

IDAHOSTATESMAN:AMcClatchyNewspaper,1200N.CurtisRoad,Boise, ID•P.O.Box40,Boise, ID83707• (208)377-6200•©2015 IdahoStatesman,Vol.150,No.289,5sections,44pages

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INSIDE TODAY

TIMWOODWARD

Mother’s Daytale that willhit your heart

EXPLORE, E1

BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY

GRADUATION DAYGREETINGS, SALUTES

BSU hands out degrees ina jam-packed Taco Bell Arena

CATCHING UP, A2

VARSITY EXTRA

Districttennis titleson the line

SPORTS, S1

Thousandswhodidn’tknowhim—including lawenforce-

ment fromacross theNorthwest—turnedout inNorthIdaho

onSaturdaytohonorSgt.GregMoore,whowaskilledwhile

onpatrolTuesday.Thosewhodidknowhimtalkedabouthis

service,hiswit,hiscourteousnessandhis loveof family.Read

about themanandthetributespaidtohim.NEWS,A4

POLICE OFFICER FUNERAL

A SAD DAY IN COEUR D’ALENE

PhotojournalistKatherineJonesbringsyouthestoryoftwowomen,morethan5,000dollsandonecrowdedhouse.EXPLORE,E1

IDAHO MOMENT

MOM, DAUGHTERSHOW OFF DOLLS

Idahoanstouchedbybreastcancerandwantingtofundresearchandfight for itspreventionturnout for theannualKomenevent.A5

RACE FOR THE CURE

THOUSANDSTHINK PINK

VOTERGUIDE 2015OnMay19,Valleyresidentswillelectschoolboardmembers,librarytrusteesandhighwaydistrict representatives.They’llalsodecidethefatesofsix leviesandbonds, includingapossiblenewelementaryschool forNotus.Visit IDAHOSTATESMAN.COM/ELECTIONS foraguidetothecan-didates,orcheckourStatesmanandIdahoPoliticsappsthisweek.

MOTHER’S DAYShowushowyoucelebrated!Sendphotosandwe’llpost theminafestiveonlinegallery.Seeourwebsite forsubmissioninstruc-tions.

ABIGWEEKENDBoiseStateheldamassivegradua-tionandtheannualRacefor theCurehadamassiveturnout.Findphotogalleries frombothevents.IDAHOSTATESMAN.COM

ON THE WEB

IDAHO HISTORY

The Swiss and theGem State NEWS, A6

OldManWinterseemedtobe lookingfavorablyonIdahoin late2014,withearlystormsand

above-normalsnowfall.But in2015,MotherNature left Idahohighanddry.Thesouthernmost

partof thestatehasbeenhit thehardest,enduringthesamewarm,dryweatherpatternthathas

Californiagasping indrought.OwyheeReservoir, above, isonly26percent full, andnotexpected

togetanymorerunoff thisyear.TheBruneauRiverwatershedisentering its fourthyearof

drought,comingoff itsdriest three-yearperiodsince1944.StatesmanreporterRockyBarker

examinesthestateofourwaterandsnowpack,andpreviewswhat’s instore for thestate.DEPTH,D1

÷Also, thedrought ishavingamajoreffectonanimalsandtheecosystemintheWest.D1

DROUGHT

HIGH AND DRYIdaho’s warm winter, light snowpack and early runoff mean that irrigators

and others will have to draw down our cushion of reservoir water this summer

KIRSTEN STROUGH / Bureau of Reclamation

1673602-03

2015 PARADEHOMESO

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MAY 17TH, 2015

MONDAY - FRIDAY 5 - 8 PM

SATURDAY - SUNDAY NOON - 8PM

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OVER 1,000CARS, TRUCKS, SUVS, VANS, RVS

& BOATS TO CHOOSE FROM!

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MAY 6TH - 10THTHIS WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

SUNDAY EDITION

$2 MAY 10, 2015

‘DEBT-FREE COLLEGE’

GROUP DRIVESDEMS’ GOAL A14

RonAbramovich usually dons snowshoesto walk through 3 feet of snow and more tomeasure the season-ending snowpack at6,100-foot-highMore’s Creek Summit east ofIdahoCity.

Thetrektothemeasuringsitethisyearwasover scant snow. Abramovich, in his snow-shoes, had to climb over fallen branches,across flowingstreamsandoverdrytopsoil.

“It looked like June1 insteadofMay1,” saidAbramovich, water supply specialist for theU.S.ConservationService.

Hemeasured 14 inchesof snow,withawa-tercontentof5.9inches,amongthelowestto-tals since agencies began measuring in 1940.Only the drought years of 1977, ’87 and ’92wereworse.

Most of Idaho is now in adrought, accord-ing to federal agencies. Butonly far SouthernIdahoissufferingtothedegreethatCaliforniaandother states are.California is in its fourthyear of drought, with reservoirs and riverflows lowandstateofficialsdeclaringacrisisthattouchesthelivesofnearlyeveryresident.

ButinIdaho,mostresidentsandevenfarm-ers will feel only minor effects this year, de-spite an unusually low snowpack and earlyrunoff. That’s because last year most of thestate had a higher-than-average snowpackand reservoirs ended the year full enough tocarrymost farmers through the2015growing

IDAHO DROUGHT

Water supply not in crisisyet, but could be next year

Photos by DAVID M. WALSH / Bureau of Reclamation

The snow is nearly gone on the Trinity Mountains, meaning farmers will get far less water from the Treasure Valley’s “fourth reservoir,” asthey call the snowpack. They’ll depend more on the Boise River’s Anderson Ranch, Arrowrock and Lucky Peak reservoirs.

Most of the state is in a drought, according to federal agencies, but only extremeSouthern Idaho is in the same boat as California and other Western states.However, 2016 could be grim if Idaho depletes the cushion in its reservoirs.

Southern Idaho got hit hard this winter by the warm, dry weather that has Cali-fornia in a major drought. The Owyhee Reservoir is just 26 percent full, and notlikely to get any more runoff this year.

!READ OUR MANY STORIESON CLIMATE AND DROUGHT

IdahoStatesman.com

See DROUGHT, D2

HOW’S THE BOISE BASINDOING?

TheBoise Basinwater year precipitation to date totals 85 percent, but theMay 1 snowpack is the lowest since 1992, and the fourth-lowest since indexingrecords began in 1961. The snowpack is 40percent of normal, with little to nosnow left below7,000 feet. The good news is that its reservoirs are 129 percentof normal, which should get farmers through the season.

BY ROCKY BARKER

rbarker@idahostatesman.com© 2015 Idaho Statesman

HOW ARE THE RESTOF IDAHO BASINSDOING? D2

D LETTERS TO THE EDITOR D5 • GEORGEWILL D6 SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

DepthInside:

MCDONALD’S AND MINIMUMWAGE:

ACTOR JAMES FRANCO HELPS STIR DEBATE D4

Inasense,AdaCountygot itsfirst reportcardforrecyclingearlier thismonth.Fromwhat

wecantell lookingat theresultsofayearlong,$73,000studyofwhatis in the landfill, there isplentyofroomtoimproveourgrade.

Alotofwastepilingupat theAdaCountyLandfill, andothersaroundIdahoandthenation,didn’tneedtoendupthere.AndthatcouldexplainwhysomeEuropeancountriesrecycleatnearlydouble therate(63percentof trash isrecycled inAustria)oftheUnitedStates(34.5percent).But theEuropeanUnionhasamandatetorecycle50percentofits trash.Wehaveour individualmotivations inarecyclingculturethatcanebbandflowduetomar-kets forrecyclablesandothercircumstances.

Afterdelving intothetopicwiththecityofBoise,RepublicServic-esandWesternRecycling,andminingareportMay1bytheIdahoStatesman’sCynthiaSewell,wefeelmostofuscould improveourrecyclinggameovernight.That’sbecausea lotofwhatgotdumpedatour landfillduringthe2013-2014study(inthesamples)couldhavebeenredirected.

Continuedrecyclingeducationprograms,newcompostingpro-gramssuchastheoneBoise isplanning,andmaybeevensometweaks inregulationsandpricescouldbe incentives to improve-mentaswell.

Thecost foraresident todumptrashata landfill across thecoun-try iswide-ranging—anywherefrom$40toover$100per ton.Spokaneisover$100.TheAdaCountyLandfill chargesresidentsonly$33aton.Wouldraisingtherates inAdaCountybeanin-centiveforresidents torecyclemore?Orwouldahigherpriceresult inaspike in illegaldumping?

Areawastedisposal industryexpertsweconsultedbelievethatpromotingstewardshipandrecy-clingeducation isabetter long-termstrategythandispatchingrecyclingpolice,andweagree.

Weknowandyouknowthatrecycling is justnonpartisancom-monsense.Wealsoknowthatsomeof therestrictionsandguide-linescangetconfusing.So,herearesomesmallbuteffectivead-justmentswecanallmaketoraiseourrecyclinggrade:

➤ Thoseplasticgrocerybags?Theyarenothingbut trouble.Yes,theycanbereusedagain,butweallknowwheremanyof themendup: in the landfill, in thebluebar-rels,orworseyet,blowingaroundthecountryside.Don’tplaceyourrecyclables inoneof thoseplasticgrocerybagsandthenstuff it inyourbluerecyclebarrel; that justcomplicates thesortingprocess.Option:Takethoseplasticbagsbacktothestorewhereyougotthem.Getyourselfareuseable toteorusehighlyrecyclablepaperbags.

➤ Someofusunderuseormisusethosebluerecyclingbar-rels.Grass,glassanddisposablefoamproductsdon’tbelonginthere.This timeofyearRepublicsaysgrass, inparticular,contam-inateswhat issupposedtobeinthosebluebarrelsandfrustratesthesortingthatneedstobedone.Plus, thewrongitemstakeuproomfortherecyclables thatshouldbegoing inthere.

➤ Recylingmaytakea littlemoretimebut itdoesn’tcostyoumoney—infact, it savesyoumoney.Sewell’s storypointedoutthatresidentialcustomers inBoisewhoaskforabluerecyclingbarrelpayonly$14.08permonthfor theircurbservice,versusthe$18.16paidbythosewhodon’t recycle.Merid-ianresidentspay$17.25whethertheyrecycleornot.Consulta listat IdahoStatesman.comtodeter-minewhatcangointhatbarrel.

Amongthe“missedopportuni-ties”notedbyourtrashexpertsarethese:

➤ Separate that junkmailandthoseplasticbeveragebottles,and

See RECYCLING, D7

We all needto improverecyclingoutcomes

STATESMAN

EDITORIAL

Forthegiantkangaroorat,deathbynatureisnormally swift and dramatic: a hopeless dashforsafetyfollowedbyablood-curdlingsqueakas their bellies are torn open by eagles, foxes,bobcatsandowls.

They’renotsupposedtodiethewaytheyaretoday — emaciated and starved, their onceabundant population dwindling to near noth-ing on California’s sprawling Carrizo Plainabout 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles,wherethedroughtisturninghundredsofthou-sandsofacresofgrasslandintodesert.

Without grass, long-legged kangaroo ratscan’t eat. And as they go, so go a variety ofthreatened animals that depend on the key-stone species to live. “That whole ecosystemchanges without the giant kangaroo rat,” said

Justin Brasheres, an associate professor ofwildlife ecology and conservation at the Uni-versityofCaliforniaatBerkeley.

Endangered kangaroo rats are just one fall-ing tile in thedrought’sdominoeffectonwild-life in the lowerWesternstates.Largefishkillsarehappening inseveral statesaswatersheat-edbyhigher temperaturesdrainand loseoxy-gen. InNorthernCalifornia, salmoneggshavevirtually disappeared as water levels fall.Thousandsofmigratingbirdsarecrowdingin-to wetland shrunk by drought, risking thespread of disease that can cause massive die-offs.

As the bakingWestern landscape becomeshotteranddrier, landanimalsarebeing forcedtoseekwaterandfoodfaroutsidetheirnormalrange. Herbivores such as deer and rabbitssearching for ameal in urbangardens inRenoaresometimespursuedbyhawks,bobcatsandmountain lions. In Arizona, rattlesnakes have

THREATENED SPECIES

Animals in the wild are dying fora drink in drought-stricken West

/ National Fish andWildlife Service

The San Joaquin kit fox is one of the species inthe West endangered by drought.

Dry conditions are causing a dominoeffect throughout the ecosystem.

BY DARRYL FEARS

THEWASHINGTON POST

See ANIMALS, D3

ROCKYBARKER

Rocky is the author ofbooks onhunting,fishing andwildfires,and reportson the envi-ronment.

season.Still, Idaho Power Co.,

whichgeneratesitscheapestpower from hydroelectricdams, will have to go moreoften to more expensivesourcesofelectricity.

“It’s going to be a tightyear,” said Kresta Davis-Butts, an Idaho Power hy-drologist.

If it stays dry and thesnowpack next winterdoesn’t refill the reservoirs,Idaho’swatersituationcouldtake a turn for theworse.Al-ready this year, seniorwaterusers in the Magic Valley,who get their water directlyfrom rivers or springs, havedemanded that users whogettheirwaterbypumpingitfrom the ground give them89,000 acre-feet of water orleavesomelands idle.

DISAPPOINTINGENDTOWINTER

Idaho started the winterwith a promising snowpackthroughouttheUpperSnakeRiver Valley west to theBoiseBasin.Butabandofun-usuallywarmPacific watersfromMexico to Canada thatwas bringing almost nosnowpacktoCalifornia,Ore-gon andWashington spreadtoSouthernIdaho.

Lastyeara“blob”ofwarmwater, as scientists called it,showed up off the coast ofAlaska. This year, the entirePacific Coast has turnedwarm,withSeattle6degreesaboveaverage.Lowersnow-pack is a continuation of atrend that climate scientistssay theyhaveseen for sever-al decades in the PacificNorthwest.

By March, nearly all ofIdaho was feeling the effectof the warm, dry winter.Southern Idaho’s snowpackpeaked, with lower- to mid-

dle-elevation snowpacksmelting and runoff begin-ning early. By April, Trea-sure Valley farmers werescrambling to adjust to con-ditionseven though levels atAnderson Ranch, Arrow-rock and Lucky Peak reser-voirsare80percentto93per-centofaverage.

“Irefertothesnowpackasour fourth reservoir,” saidRexBarrie,WaterDistrict63watermaster inStar, themanwhoensures thatwater goestotherightusers. “It’sonlyat40percentofaverage.”

And it’s worse as youmove south. The BruneauRiverwatershedhas had thelowest three-year period ofprecipitation since 1944.This year will be its fourthyearofdrought.To thewest,OwyheeReservoir is at only26 percent full, withmost ofits runoffdone.

Thesameweatherpatternthat carried the dry condi-tions from California to theBruneau reaches up to Ida-ho’s Wood River and LostRiver basins, Abramovichsaid. Luckily, watershedsalong the Continental Di-vide, suchas theSalmonandClearwater, caught some ofthe snowstorms that cameout of Canada and coveredMontanaandpointseast.

GROUNDWATERCOMPOUNDSPROBLEM

What sets this droughtapart from 1992’s conditionsand before is what watermanagers now know aboutthe aquifer. Levels havedropped an average of200,000 acre-feet annuallyin the Eastern Snake RiverPlain Aquifer, a Lake Erie-sizedundergroundreservoirthatstretchesfromAshtoninthe east to King Hill nearGlennsFerry.

Thoselevelspeakedinthe1950s, dropping since in partduetochangesfromfloodir-rigation to sprinklers —

which seep less water backintotheaquifer—andtotherise in groundwater pump-ingfor farming.

The drop in flows can beseen on the Snake River atMurphy, just below SwanFalls Dam. A 1980s agree-ment between Idaho andIdaho Power set minimumstream flows for power at3,900 cubic feet per secondduringirrigationseasonand5,600cfs in thewinter.

The winter flows drop-pedbelow theminimumforone day this year. Flowsskatenearthesummermini-mumnearlyeveryyear, saidBrian Patten, chief of theIdahoDepartment ofWaterResourcesPlanningBureau.

To combat this drop, theIdaho Water Board beganfull-scale operations to re-charge the aquifer, sendingwater down several canalsthis winter so it would seepinto the groundwater. Thestate was able to put 75,000acre-feetbackintotheaquif-er.

Eventually ithopes toputasmuchas250,000acre-feetinto the aquifer, to rebuildthenatural spring flowsthathelpfill theSnake.ButIdahomight one day be forced todryupacresoffarmlandthathave the most junior waterrights to meet the demandsof those with more seniorrights.

InApril,MagicValley ca-nalcompaniesandthefarm-ers they serve demanded89,000 acre-feet of water tomake up for the loss thatthey say was caused bygroundwater pumping,which reduced spring flowsinto the Snake River fromBlackfoot to the MinidokaDam.Groundwaterusersarenegotiating in hopes ofreaching a long-term agree-ment.

The minimum flows, therecharge, and the manage-ment between surface and

groundwater users in Idahothatcameoutofa27-yearad-judication of water rights intheGemStategive it a struc-ture tomanagewater scarci-ty that California is only be-ginning to recognize itneeds. Patton is hopeful thatthe state can do even morerecharge.

“Westillhavealotofworkto do in the future,” Patton

said. “But this was a goodstart.”

Meanwhile, Idaho farm-ers, boaters, anglersandoth-erscanbegratefulthatIdahois not yet facing the econo-my-reshaping drought thatCalifornia’s dry spell por-tends.

RockyBarker: 377-6484;

Twitter:@RockyBarker

KIRSTEN STROUGH / Bureau of Reclamation

The snow onWest Mountain behind Cascade Reservoir is scant for this time of the year, but the reservoir is expected to fill and meet farmers’ needs, at least for 2015.

HOWARE IDAHOWATERSHEDSDOING?

Payette,Weiser basinsThe Payettewatershed has 80percent of

its normal precipitation for thewater year,but its snowpack is the third-lowest since1961 and the lowest since 1987. Payettesnowpack is only 26 percent of normal, but ithas good reservoir levels (127 percent ofnormal).TheWeiser drainage is at 80per-cent for its precipitation to date for thewateryear, but its snowpack is at zero. The Boise,Payette andWeisterwatersheds haveMay-July streamflow volumes forecast at 30 and55 percent of average. The forecast for thePayette River nearHorseshoe Bend is ex-pected to be the lowest observed flow since2001.

SalmonBasinTwo consecutivemonthswith precip-

itation at 60percent or less thanmonthlyaverages in the SalmonRiver Basin hasdropped thewater year to 84percent ofaverage. TheMiddle Fork is likely approach-ing its snowmelt peak, but additional precip-itation and cooler temperatures could ex-tend and delay it.Middle ForkMay-July flowvolumes atMiddle Fork Lodge are forecastto be half of average; theMain Salmon atWhite Bird is forecast to be 57 percent ofaverage.

WoodRiver andBig Lost River basinsThe BigWoodBasin has retainedmore

snowpack than any of the surroundingwatersheds, and has just 4 percent of nor-mal. Over the past 30 years, 2015would bein the bottom three for theWood and Lostbasins, with snowpack similar to 1977 and1987. Reservoir storage in theWood andLost system ranges fromahigh of 83 percentof capacity inMackay Reservoir to a lowof43 percent inMagic Reservoir. These are ofparticular concern, becausemuch of the

snowpack is gone andmany peak flowslikely have passed. Forecasts for streamflows in the BigWoodRiver atHailey are 33percent of average and 35 percent for the BigLost.

Bruneau andOwyhee basinsThe snowpack is gone in theOwyhee and

Bruneauwatersheds. TheOwyheeRivernear Rome is expected to have 11 percent ofaverageMay-July volume; below the damthe forecast is 18 percent. The BruneauRiveris forecast to be 19 percent of average.

Clearwater BasinWater year precipitation in theClear-

water remains near normal at 93 percent ofaverage. A 13-station index reveals theClearwater has its fourth-lowestMay 1snowpack since 1961, and the lowest since1994.As awhole, basin snowpack is 59percent of normal, nearly a 100percentagespoint less than in 2014. The Selway andLochsa rivers are on the rise.With limitedsnow tomelt, expected streamflowpeaksare likely to be lowand occur earlier thannormal. Dworshak Reservoir is nearly fulland is expected to fill bymid-May.

Upper SnakeWater year totals range froma lowof 69

percent of average in theHenry’s Fork–FallsRiver area to a high of 97 percent in theBuffalo Fork inWyoming. The snowpackranges from35percent to 83 percent, withupper-elevation basins slightly better off.The forecast for the next twomonths rangesfrom42percent to 71 percent. But below-normalmountain snowpack, a dry spring,early snowmelt and high irrigation demandall add up to lesswater available this season.The severity of shortageswill depend onhowhot and dry the summer is.

DROUGHTCONTINUED FROM D1

D2 ● SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015 IDAHO STATESMAN ● IDAHOSTATESMAN.COM

DearRoad Wizard: With abundanttwo-thru-lane intersectionsthat merge down to one lanepast the intersection in Boise,and especially Meridian, whydon’t Idaho drivers happilyalternately merge (likemost other states) for fastermovement of traffic? Heredrivers line up for blocks in theleft-most thru lane instead ofalso using the right-most thrulane and merging down to onefor fear of road rage and peoplesaying they “cut them off.” Theintersection of Eagle Road andChinden Boulevard is a primeexample. Don’t people realizethat everyone will move faster ifthey allow merging? Merging isnot “cutting someone off,” it’s arule of the road. Paula

The classic thru-trafficshowdown. In one corner of thering, a driver in the left-most thrulane who has waited out multiple

signal cycles during rush hourtraffic to finally make the greenlight. In the other, a motorist whohas used the right-most thru laneto zip past drivers on the left,demanding to merge where theright lane ends past the signal.Who deserves the title of “FirstDown the Road”?

Preventing someone frommerging may feel like winningthe battle, but it’s really losing thewar, which is otherwise knownas the struggle to get everyoneinto the one lane in the mostefficient way. The better approachis for drivers in the left-most laneto leave gaps for merging trafficwhile maintaining a steady speed.People in the right-most laneshould look for those gaps and tryto merge at about the same speedas traffic to the left. Motoristsshould use—but not abuse—eitherlane. Don’t be shy (or rude)!

Dear Road Wizard: Anumber of years ago we had

a traffic signal at Fairviewand Steelwood avenues, butit was removed. Trying toturn left onto Fairview fromWildwood Way (one blockeast of Steelwood) is a “shootof the dice.” Are there anyplans for putting a traffic signalat Wildwood or back ontoSteelwood in the future? Iwork for a business in theSteelwood Business Park as adelivery driver. I can say fora fact that trying to make aleft onto Fairview is almostimpossible depending on thetime of day! Terry

The developer-constructedsignal at Steelwood and Fairviewwas originally built becausecommercial development wasplanned at that location. But dueto the economic slump, it hasn’thappened as anticipated.

A later study looked at the prosand cons of keeping the signaloperating without additionalcommercial traffic. It concluded

that the disruption of traffic flowon Fairview and signal crash ratesoutweighed the benefit of thelight, and ACHD pulled the plug.

But the plan is to get it runningagain once traffic numbersjustify it. The remaining signalinfrastructure stands as proof.

ACHD monitors traffic atthe Steelwood, Wildwood andShamrock Avenue intersectionsto be sure a signal isn’t requiredbecause of existing traffic. Iwouldn’t bet on a green-yellow-red at Steelwood for a least acouple of years, and after newdevelopment takes place, eventhough turning without a signalcan feel like a crapshoot.

Dear Road Wizard: Justa thanks for publishing myquestion and doing it so soon.Your answer made perfectsense. Ted

Oh yes, the column aboutschool speed zones. Thank you.

1715299-01