Normally in Washington, you’ll want to see a lovely melting of snow in the mountains around the beginning of June. Over time, water flows into state reservoirs, driving hydroplants, cities and farms.
But this year, state officials say the drought situation in Washington has been getting worse from worsening. On Thursday, they expanded the state’s drought emergency to areas in western Washington, including parts of King, Pierce and Snohomish counties.
The state generally saw poor snow packs during the winter, with a bad start to the heels of 2024 drought year 2023. The warmer than normal temperatures then started to melt faster than normal, washing away excess water downstream and into the Pacific Ocean rather than staying in the reservoir.
Before the winter ended, Washington Ecological Department officials declared a drought emergency in the central part of the state. The expanded emergency includes 22 watersheds in 15 counties.
“Scientists say this is the new normal,” said Casey Sixkiller, director of ecology. “The conditions for this year are something we can expect almost every year from now on.”
Seattle, Tacoma and Everett are not included in the drought emergency. Instead, they are subject to a less severe category of drought advice. Still, Seattle utilities expect to find new water sources for their growing customer base in increasingly arid regions over the coming decades.
When Ecology announced its first drought emergency in April, Six Killer said the state still hopes that the final shot of snow could be pulled back from the brink. Instead, what we saw was warmer and drier weather.
April said he was Karin Bunbako’s Associate State climatologist, the 25th warmest state since the record began in 1895, close to 2 degrees Fahrenheit, above normal temperatures.
Snowpack levels peaked nearly two weeks before normal and melted four weeks earlier, Bumbaco said.
Bumbaco said it is likely that the next few months will retain more of the same warm, dry weather. Water supply forecasts predict that areas in drought emergency will be less than three-quarters of normal water supply.
This year’s drought emergency declaration has set aside about $4.5 million for relief efforts. While more people can apply for that money on Thursday, that means a relatively small amount is expected to cover more ground than initially expected.
This is the third year in a row that state officials have declared a state of drought emergency.
Think of Washington’s Mountain Snowpack as a type of natural reservoir. It holds billions of gallons of frozen water, melts (ideally slowly) and fills the artificial reservoir in early summer weeks. Once they are filled, these artificial reservoirs must keep us in the dry season until autumn rains fall. The reservoir fills early and the snow thaw, which still flows downstream, must be allowed to run to Puget Sound, as there is no space to hold that water.
Global warming means that this all happens more frequently. Sometimes it’s over for years.
Precipitation that once fell like snow, rain prevents water from being held up in its natural snow reservoir. This is called “snow drought.” Snow loads falling into the mountains often melt a few weeks earlier than usual. And the dry summer season begins earlier and lasts longer. In other words, the water reserves are growing thinly.
Low water means more expensive hydropower, crop damage, water restrictions, and dangerous conditions of salmon and other aspects of the natural environment.
