This evening should be the last night of snowmaking for the season. We are allowed to divert water from September 1 through December 31 each year. At midnight on New Year's Eve the snowmaking crew plugged our diversion. That left a little bit of water in the reservoir that we are finishing off tonight.
Our available water for snowmaking is linked to the streamflow of the North Fork of the Snake River. As the Fall and Winter progress, the streamflow decreases. The higher the flow, the more water available for snowmaking and vice versa. We start the snowmaking season in October running 18-20 fan guns. Tonight we have 3 fan guns running. Last summer was fairly wet for us and we have had pretty good Fall snowfall. The streamflow has been good and as a result, we had a good snowmaking season making about 5-10% more snow than our 20 year average.
