The governor of Washington state declared a drought emergency in three regions of the state, including key agricultural areas, due to record-low snowpack levels, said Reuters. Streams are fed by snowmelt, so diminished streamflows are likely. Hardest-hit by drought would be the watersheds on the Olympic Peninsula, the east side of the Cascade Mountains, including Yakima and Wenatchee, and the Walla Walla region, which are major wine and apple producers, said Reuters. Statewide, snowpack is 27 percent of normal. Reuters quoted the governor as saying, “”Snowpack is at record lows, and we have farms, vital agricultural regions, communities and fish that are going to need our support.”
California, in its fourth year of drought, “has only about one year of water supply left in its reservoirs and our strategic backup supply, ground water, is rapidly disappearing,” said Jay Famiglietti, senior water scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times. Famiglietti suggested mandatory water rationing for all sectors of the state, including agriculture; speeded-up work on local plans to assure groundwater sustainability, and development of long-term water management plans. “Our state’s water management is complex, but the technology and expertise exist to handle this harrowing future,” he said.
Oregon Gov Kate Brown was expected to declare a drought emergency as early as Monday in Lake and Malheur counties in the southeastern corner of the state abutting California, says the Portland Oregonian. Similar declarations are likely soon for Harney and Klamath counties, it said. “The emergency declaration gives the Oregon Water Resources Department authority beyond its typical water management role. Among them, the agency could issue temporary emergency permits to water users, allow the owners of surface water rights to tap ground water and prioritize certain water uses over others,” said the Oregonian.