Washington’s dwindling snowpack sparks statewide drought declaration

The Washington Department of Ecology issued an emergency statewide drought declaration Wednesday as dismal snowpack levels and an anticipated warm summer spell serious consequences for the state’s water supply.

This is the fourth year in a row that all or part of Washington is under a drought declaration, the department shared in a press release.

Drought is declared in Washington when there is less than 75% of normal water supply, risking undue hardship on water users and the environment, the release said. Due to low snowpack levels and the impacts of previous droughts, the state met that threshold.

Although precipitation was 104% more than usual between this past October and February, not enough of it was snow, the release said.

Though the heavy rains that caused flooding in December did help fill some of the state’s reservoirs, the warm precipitation wiped out early winter snowpack. Later storms in January and March did help to build snowpack in the state’s river basins, but warm temperatures once again set back its progress.

As a result, Washington’s snowpack level is half of its usual amount.

Combine that fact with a summer predicted to be warmer and dryer than usual, and you’ve got a recipe for a water supply likely to fall short of the season’s demands.

“Going into April with half of our usual snowpack is alarming,” Department of Ecology director Casey Sixkiller said in the release. “This is becoming an all-too-common experience and is another example of how climate change is visibly reshaping our landscape.”

Snowpacks, A.K.A. the layers of snow that accumulate on top of mountains, act as natural reservoirs that provide water during warmer months.

Washington relies on snowpacks to slowly melt into and replenish bodies of water, the release said. Without enough snowmelt, rivers run low and water temperatures rise, resulting in uninhabitable conditions for aquatic species.

There’s also an impact on farmers who rely on irrigation, as well as an increased risk of wildfires.

As temperatures rise due to climate change, snowpack droughts are becoming more and more common, the release said.

“In the 1990s, on average, these were occurring about one in every five years. Today they are happening about 40% of the time,” the release said. “By the 2050s, research projects that seven out of every 10 years will see snow droughts, on average.”

Tacoma’s water utilities, along with Seattle and Everett, planned for drought conditions in early winter and don’t anticipate customers to be impacted, the release said.