BOISE -- We have seen quite a bit of rain the past few weeks, but is it enough to help overcome the lack of precipitation so far this spring?
We checked in with a local hydrologist to see exactly how water levels are shaping up.
Even though we've had nearly an inch and a half of rain this month, that doesn't mean we've completely caught up.
Hydrologist Ron Abramovich explains there's a big difference between snowpack runoff and precipitation.
He says in general we had a low snowpack year and below normal precipitation for much of this spring. But the recent rain has helped with the irrigation demand, meaning water managers can now store more in the reservoirs for later this summer.
"Rain is good but snow is better. We get so much more runoff from the snowpack than we do from the rainfall, so we're finally seeing the streams increase now that the soil voids are being filled by the rainfall, so the rivers are rising as well too," said Abramovich.
Abramovich said we are about 50 to 60 percent of normal for runoff. Also, this is the time when our weather pattern begins shifting from spring to summer.
