Published 9:00 am Tuesday, July 18, 2023
Among 11 western states Washington has the largest percentage of its area in a drought, a reversal from last year when the Evergreen state escaped what some scientists called a “megadrought” in the West.
The U.S. Drought Monitor classifies 51% of Washington in a drought. Oregon and Idaho are second and third, with 48% and 24%, respectively.
Most of Whatcom, Skagit and Snohomish counties in Western Washington are in a “severe drought,” the second-worst category. Severe drought also touches King, Kittitas, Chelan, Stevens and Pend Oreille counties. In the rest of the Western U.S., severe drought is rare.
A year ago, 74% of the West was in some level of drought. Areas of “severe,” “extreme” and “exceptional” drought were common.
Now, the percentage of the West in “moderate” drought is 12%. The percentage in “severe” drought is 3%. There are no areas in “extreme” or “exceptional” drought in the 11 Western states.
Arizona, California, Colorado and Wyoming are drought-free or nearly so. All four states had above-average rain and below-average temperatures over a 12-month period ending June 30, according to the Western Regional Climate Center.
Washington stood out a year ago as having only 8% of its area in a drought. The next best-off state was Montana, with 26% of its area in drought.
Just three months ago, Washington had a small amount of drought, compared to the West as a whole. Washington’s change of positions was brought on by the warmest May on record, followed by the 13th warmest June.
It was the fourth-warmest and 11th-driest May-June combination in 129 years of record-keeping, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information.
The warm May triggered a rapid melting of snow that caused streams and rivers to rise in the spring. The surge, however, was out of sync with summer irrigation needs.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation affirmed July 14 that Yakima River basin irrigators with junior water-rights can expect 72% of their normal water allotments. The outlook was unchanged from early this month.
The forecasts force irrigation districts to adjust their operations to stretch the water supply to cover the season. The reclamation bureau will update the forecast Aug 3.
The water supply could worsen if heat waves hit south-central Washington, reclamation bureau river operations engineer Chris Lynch said Monday. “We would be much better off if we hadn’t had that snow melting off so fast,” he said.
The Washington Department of Ecology issued a statewide drought advisory July 5, alerting residents to potential water shortages. The declaration did not authorize any emergency measures
State agency leaders are scheduled to meet July 18 to discuss whether to recommend that Gov. Jay Inslee declare a drought emergency in places with water shortages and hardships.
Lawmakers this year appropriated $3 million for drought-relief projects, but the legislation won’t take effect until July 23.
Two Skagit County, Wash., irrigation districts don’t need money, but they need a drought declaration to obtain an emergency water-right from Skagit Public Utility District.
The irrigation districts have been shut off from the Skagit River, which was flowing near Mount Vernon on Monday at an all-time low for the date, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The irrigation districts serve a portion of the county categorized by the Drought Monitor as being in a “severe drought.
