Cold weather and heavy snowfall this winter may mean the end of drought in 2016 — maybe.

 

According to the first water supply outlook report for the year — released by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service — all basins in Oregon are experiencing above-normal snowpack levels, an estimated 125 percent of average.

 

That’s for the basins. The news gets even better. Snowfall levels already have surpassed the peak levels of last year’s snow season in all locations statewide. All locations.

 

Water managers are cautiously optimistic that the state will see drought recovery.