PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon water managers say they are working hard to control the spring runoff expected from wet weather and a heavy mountain snowpack.
Jon Lea is a hydrologist with the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service in Portland.
He told The Oregonian that the snowpack in the Western states is a combined 220 percent of average for this time of year.
And at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s reservoir control center in Portland, center chief Steve Barton said it’s up to him and his staff to balance the needs of agriculture, navigation, fish, hydroelectric generation and recreation — in addition to reduce any flooding downstream.
