BOISE, Idaho — It has been a dismal year for snow, but we’ve actually received more precipitation than normal in the Boise and Payette River basins. The difference has been the temperature, and we are trying to learn what the change in climate means for water users— both commercial and recreational.

“If you think about the lack of snow we have gotten in the Treasure Valley, it is unusual,” said hydrologist Troy Lindquist with the National Weather Service.

Click here to see the conditions and hear from the National Weather Service.

Water Outlook does not look promising, but it could be worse without all the precipitation

The mountains of western and central Idaho received some snow this week, and that bumped up the snow water equivalent to 83 percent of average in the Boise Basin, 81 percent in the Payette River Basin, and 69 percent in the Weiser River Basin.

The lack of snow is obvious at lower elevations, but we have also received 4.88 inches of rain at the Boise Airport since the beginning of October, a full inch above the average. I wanted to talk with Troy Linquist to learn more about this strange winter and what it means for the future.

“If we don’t have that mid and low elevation snowpack, that’s just overall going to decrease the spring run-off,” said Lindquist. “Instead of it holding as snow and holding in the mountains, that rain has increased the reservoir system.”

I’ve been out kayaking as the South Fork of the Payette River is flowing at normal summer levels and has been for several weeks.

Most of Idaho’s rivers are flowing higher than normal, including Mores Creek, which dumps into Lucky Peak Reservoir.

It’s good news, but not as good as if the precipitation was sticking around in the mountains in the form of a deep snowpack.

“If we just don’t get the snow that is going to impact the water supply, it’s going to impact vegetation, spring flows, the health of the ecosystem, and stuff like that,” added Lindquist.

The team at the National Weather Service will continue to monitor the situation daily and Troy Lindquist told me the outlook for the next ten days doesn’t look good. However, the wet winter months are a marathon, not a sprint— with several months left to improve the outlook. That said, it could also get worse.

“We got the second half of January, February, and March where we can accumulate snowpack,” explained Lindquist. “We do have time to see that snowpack recover, and that’s what we are hoping for.”

The Boise system has pretty good carryover from last year between Anderson Ranch, Arrowrock, and Lucky Peak. The system is 58 percent full, and the Payette system is 71 percent full.

Some of Idaho’s river basins are actually doing pretty well right now, but southern Idaho is doing the worst, as the Owyhee River Basin is sitting at 20 percent of its average snowpack.

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PUC takes comments on Idaho Power fire mitigation plan

Published 2:20 pm Wednesday, January 7, 2026

Idaho law requires utilities file annual plan

State regulators will take written comments through Feb. 12 on Idaho Power’s wildfire mitigation plan, a document that the company has submitted in each of the last five years and is now required under 2025 legislation.

The current edition of the plan includes information on the use of software to identify wildfire risk, on efforts to enhance the Boise-based utility’s wildfire situational awareness, and on how design methods for new transmission lines and upgrades of existing lines will reduce wildfire ignition potential in heightened risk areas, according to an Idaho Public Utilities Commission news release.

The Western U.S. has experienced an increase in the frequency and intensity of wildland fires due to factors including changing climatic conditions, increased human encroachment in wildland areas, historical land management practices and changes in wildland and forest health, according to the application Idaho Power filed with the PUC.

“While Idaho has not experienced fires to the same magnitude as some other Western states, Idaho’s wildfire season has grown longer and more intense,” according to the application. “Warmer temperatures, reduced snowpack and earlier snowmelt contribute to drier conditions, extending the period of heightened fire risk.”

Wildfire law

A 2024 peak wildfire season that started earlier than usual, ended late, was busy throughout and caused substantial damage was a factor in the 2025 Idaho Legislature passing Senate Bill 1183, the Wildfire Standard of Care Act.

The law aims to protect utilities’ customers and member owners by empowering the PUC to set expectations and hold the utilities and strong standards, and outline liabilities for utilities that fail to meet the requirements, according to the bill’s purpose statement.

Wildfires in recent years have “bankrupted utilities and driven their customers’ monthly bills to crippling levels. In part this is due to courts holding utilities liable for wildfire damages despite no finding of fault or causation,” according to the purpose statement.

As for liability, in a civil action where wildfire-related damages are sought from the utility, “there is a rebuttable presumption that the electric corporation acted without negligence if, with respect to the cause of the wildfire, the electric corporation reasonably implemented a commission-approved mitigation plan,” the bill text reads.

Each electric utility’s mitigation plan identifies areas where the utility has infrastructure or equipment that it says may be subject to heightened risk of wildfire, states actions the utility will take to reduce fire risk, and details how public outreach will be done before, during and after the season, according to the PUC release.

Idaho Power’s new mitigation plan includes an updated risk zone map, and qualitative risk adjustments by area to account for unique factors that may raise or lower risk because of changes that have occurred over time, such as to vegetation composition due to fire impacts, according to the application.

Comments on the case, IPC-E-25-32, can be submitted online or at secretary@puc.idaho.gov.