The Washington Department of Ecology will distribute about $700,000 to three other state agencies for drought-relief projects, exhausting the amount available to cope with the emergency.

The Department of Health, Fish and Wildlife and Washington State Conservation Commission have submitted spending proposals for Ecology to assess.

Funding candidates include a proposal by the Benton Conservation District, via the state commission, to buy an aquatic-plant cutter to mow water stargrass, a riverbed weed that thrives in drought conditions.

Stargrass clogs irrigation gates on the Lower Yakima River, conservation district outreach coordinator and biologist Rachel Little said.

“It’s especially bad in drought years, for sure. It’s terrible this year,” she said. “This proposal is a way we can directly help irrigators in a drought.”

During the 2015 drought, irrigation districts and other public entities could apply for grants to alleviate drought hardships. Lawmakers this year didn’t anticipate a drought and didn’t budget for one.

Ecology had some money drought-relief funds leftover from prior budgets and scraped up more money saved by vacant positions in the department.

With the drought well along, Ecology will distribute what money it has to the three state agencies rather than take applications from other public agencies, Ecology drought coordinator Jeff Marti said.

Moses Lake Sen. Judy Warnick, the top-ranking Republican on the Senate agriculture committee, said Tuesday she wants a joint Senate and House committee to talk about whether the state can do more.

The Legislature has a drought committee that includes Senate and House members. The committee has been dormant this year.

Lawmakers traditionally refrain from meeting in August. Warnick said she hoped House leaders will make an exception for the drought. She said she has been calling for a meeting since Gov. Jay Inslee declared a drought emergency July 14.

“I’m a little frustrated we can’t get an emergency meeting together to at least talk about options,” she said.

Efforts to reach the chairman of the House agriculture committee, Port Angeles Rep. Mike Chapman, also on the drought committee, were unsuccessful.

Fish and Wildlife may receive about half the money for projects to help fish survive the drought.

Ryderwood, a retirement community in southwest Washington, faces running out of water. The health department estimates trucking water to the town’s 500 residents would cost about $25,000 a week.

The health department also anticipates spending $70,000 to haul water to residents belonging to a small water system in Clallam County.

Other conservation districts may receive money to advise landowners.