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Washington declares statewide drought emergency, unlocks $3 million in response grants
Summary
At a Yakima event, Ecology Director Casey Sixkiller declared a statewide drought emergency after reporting statewide snowpack at about 52% of median, and agency leaders outlined immediate grants, wildfire risks and potential curtailment of surface-water rights as they prepare for a hot, dry summer.
At a press event in Yakima, the Washington Department of Ecology declared a statewide drought emergency, citing snowpack and streamflow data that agency officials said leave reservoirs and rivers unable to meet typical summer demand. "Today, we are declaring a statewide drought emergency," Ecology Director Casey Sixkiller said, adding that the declaration allows the state to act immediately to support water users.
The declaration follows an unusually low snowpack: Karen Bombacco, deputy state climatologist with the Washington State Climate Office, said the statewide average snowpack was "only 52% of median as of last week," ranking as the third-lowest since records began in 1985. Sixkiller told the audience that Yakima Basin reservoirs can store about 1,000,000 acre-feet of water while communities, farms and fish need roughly 2,500,000 acre-feet each summer, a shortfall that helps explain the urgency behind the declaration.
Why it matters: officials said the shortfall…
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