Washington declares statewide drought

Washington just declared a statewide drought emergency on April 8 after an unusually warm winter left the state with about half of its normal mountain snowpack heading into spring. State officials said this is the fourth straight year that part or all of Washington has been under a drought declaration. (ecology.wa.gov) That sounds backwards because Washington actually got 104 percent of normal precipitation from October through February. The problem was that too much of that water fell as rain instead of snow, so the mountains lost the natural storage system that usually releases water slowly through summer. (ecology.wa.gov) Snowpack is the state’s seasonal reservoir, and Washington depends on that frozen water to keep rivers running after the winter storms stop. When the snow is missing in April, streams drop earlier, water warms faster, and the dry season effectively starts with less in the bank. (ecology.wa.gov) Washington’s legal trigger for a drought emergency is not just “it looks dry.” The state declares drought when water supply is expected to fall below 75 percent of average and there is a risk of undue hardship for people, farms, fish, or ecosystems. (ecology.wa.gov, ecology.wa.gov) This year the warning covers the whole state, but the pain will not land evenly. The Department of Ecology said some agricultural producers already expect to cut irrigation, and some may leave fields unplanted because there may not be enough water to carry crops through the season. (ecology.wa.gov) Cities are not all in the same position either. The Department of Ecology says utilities serving Everett, Seattle, and Tacoma entered the year with healthy reservoir storage after planning early for possible drought, so those systems are not expected to see impacts right now. (ecology.wa.gov) Fish get squeezed from both sides in years like this. Lower river flows leave less habitat, and warmer water adds stress at the exact time salmon and other aquatic species need colder, deeper streams. (ecology.wa.gov) The wildfire piece starts in the mountains, not in the flame. Low snowpack and earlier melt leave forests and grasslands drying out sooner, and Washington officials have already warned that the state is heading into summer with elevated fire risk after lawmakers restored a previously proposed $60 million cut to fire funding. (kgw.com, ecology.wa.gov) For people heading outdoors, the practical change is simple: streams, springs, and small trailside water sources that usually last into summer may run weak or disappear earlier than expected. The Columbian reported that state officials are already telling campers and hikers to plan around reduced natural water availability this season. (columbian.com) This is also no longer a one-off bad year. The Department of Ecology says seven of the past 10 years have brought drought to part or all of Washington, and 2026 is now the fourth statewide drought emergency since 2015. (ecology.wa.gov)