Watching the water supply

Hot, dry conditions put pressure on water supplies

Campbell Creek, the water supply for the community of Ryderwood, is a 

trickle due to a major lack of precipitation in Cowlitz County. Read more

on our statewide conditions webpage. Photo courtesy of Washington State
Department of Health. 

The fall rains can’t come soon enough.

Months of unusually warm and dry weather continue to put pressure on the state’s rivers and streams. Although some areas saw sprinkles earlier this month, rivers across the state continue to recede. In some cases, rivers are hitting new record lows. The Naselle River in southwestern Washington established a new historic low flow when it dropped to 16 cubic feet per second (cfs) this week. That’s roughly half of its normal flow of 37 cfs.

High temps in August

Although wildfire smoke moderated the heat a bit, the average daily temperature during the first half of August was about 3 degrees above normal. This contributed to more days above 90 degrees than usual. The Vancouver airport hit 90 degrees or hotter on 28 days this summer. That’s more than Spokane, which broke 90 degrees on 23 days. The average over the previous 20 years for Vancouver is 11 days. For Spokane, about 19.

Thankfully, this summer, we aren't expecting an official water supply drought emergency to be declared. It's been hot and dry, but water supplies so far haven't met the statutory threshold. Under state law, a drought emergency is defined by a two-prong test:

·          An area has or is expected to receive 75 percent or less of normal supplies AND

·          Undue hardships are likely to occur as a result. 

Official drought declarations provide us flexibility to authorize emergency wells and water withdrawals.

Tracking impacts

We’re working with other state agencies to track impacts from the warm and dry conditions.

The Department of Health tells us that multiple drinking water systems in western Washington have taken measures to reduce demand. Actions range from requesting voluntary or mandatory conservation (e.g., lawn watering restrictions) to more serious measures like hauling water.

Larger municipalities like Seattle and Tacoma say their water supplies should be fine for the season.

For fish, warm water temperatures can block migration. Emergency fishing closures are in effect on parts of the Columbia River to protect fish trying to find refuge in cooler water, according to the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

We are continuing to regulate water users in some parts of the state to protect senior water rights and adopted instream flows. Curtailment notices or orders have been issued in the Chehalis, Walla Walla, Methow, Similkameen, Wenatchee, and Skagit watersheds.

Read about more impacts on our water supply conditions webpage. We update it weekly.

By Kristin Johnson-Waggoner, communications manager

If fish could talk—what Palouse River fish are telling us

A big catch for clean water

Crews from the Department of Ecology and local Conservation Districts just spent six weeks collecting fish from the Palouse River in southeastern Washington. Collecting these fish is part of Ecology’s program that monitors fish in rivers and streams for contaminants.

The fish collected will help the agency measure changes in the water quality of the river. The fishing effort yielded 348 “keepers,” including suckers, pike minnow, smallmouth bass, chiselmouth, and carp.

Once the team of researchers finish collecting fish they are analyzed for harmful toxic pollutants, like PCBs and other chlorinated pesticides like DDT. 

Capturing just the right number, size, and species of fish at just the right location can make fish collection difficult. Researcher Keith Seiders of Ecology’s Environmental Assessment Program says that collecting fish in smaller rivers like the Palouse can be challenging, but it’s worth the effort.

Seiders: “It’s worth it because these fish in the analyses give us information that will help us make decisions that can impact communities and the way we do business for decades to come.”

What do the fish tell us?

Toxic chemicals used in the past can end up in the environment and get washed into rivers and streams where fish accumulate them. Even though some of these chemicals were banned in the United States more than 35 years ago and are no longer used, they persist in the environment because they can take decades to break down and become harmless.

Seiders: “Fish are a great collector of these chemicals because they’re in the aquatic system and everything flows downstream and into the waters. So that’s where we can measure these chemicals accurately in the environment. And it tells us about how widespread they may be."

Fishing for solutions

A 2005 study sparked communities in the Palouse watershed to take action to control pollution. Ecology worked with local governments to develop a water cleanup plan. This plan identified chemical sources and listed actions to address the problem areas.

Seiders: “The monitoring that our group does is so important to help provide the information to let communities and states and residents make educated decisions about how to address problems with pollution in their environment."

Reeling in results

Results from this year’s fish sampling will be compared to previous studies to see if levels of pollutants in fish have decreased, and the results will also meet a variety of other needs.

Seiders: “The results are used by [Washington State] Department of Health. They’ll look at the results to see if a risk assessment is needed for the levels of toxic contaminants in the fish. If they’re high enough, they will do more work and issue a fish consumption advisory.”

The results from this research are expected to be reported in 2019. The report will tell the agency about changes in the amount of toxic pollutants in the Palouse River since the 2005 study. It may even give Ecology and local communities some insight into how the water cleanup plan is progressing.

By Ruth Froese, Environmental Assessment Program Communications

Watching the water supply:

Southwest Washington bearing brunt of dry conditions

Although we don't expect much rain this time of year, one area of the state stands out for being drier than usual: Southwest Washington and most of the Olympic Peninsula.

The July 19, 2018, U.S. Drought Monitor map classifies

southwest Washington as having moderate drought-like

conditions. Much of the rest of the state is considered

abnormally dry.

The U.S. Drought Monitor map, one of the tools we use to assess state water supply conditions, classifies much of the region as experiencing moderate drought-like conditions. The map is updated weekly and available on our statewide water supply conditions webpage.

Streamflow data also point to low flows in the region.

We’re seeing many rivers and streams in southwest Washington run at record low levels. The Chehalis River near Grand Mound is running at 113 cubic feet per second—a flow level in the 1st percentile, meaning flows are so low they are exceeded 99 percent of the time for this time of year historically. The Willapa River near Willapa is at 20 cubic feet per second, which is in the 1.5 percentile, meaning the flow is exceeded 98.5 percent of the time for this time of year historically. Irrigators, fish and aquatic habitat are most affected by these low flows.

Citing low flows in the Cowlitz River, the city of Kelso has asked its residents to take  

The Chehalis River winds its way west of Chehalis (July 19, 2018). We're
seeing record low flows on parts of the river. 

voluntarily water conservation measures until water levels in the municipality’s water source improve. To the north, the city of Forks and two small Jefferson County water systems are also asking their customers to follow voluntary conservation measures.

NOAA’s climate prediction center is predicting warm, dry conditions for the rest of summer. We are closely monitoring water supply conditions and working with other state agencies to track impacts. If you’d like more detail, read our water supply webpage.

Are we in a drought emergency?

Under Washington State law, emergency drought conditions are identified when water supply in an area has or is predicted to have 75 percent of normal water supplies AND undue hardships expected as a result. 

Drought emergencies are declared using a formal process based on statute. At this time, we have not declared a drought emergency anywhere in the state.

A rain-fed water system

The hydrogeology of southwest Washington is unique. Water supplies rely heavily on rain and less on snowpack from the Cascade and Olympic mountains. This means the region’s water supplies are more sensitive to above-average temperatures and below-average precipitation like we’ve been experiencing.

The effects of the unseasonably warm and dry weather in May led us to issue water use curtailment notices. We asked 88 junior water right holders—mostly irrigators—in the Chehalis River basin to stop using river water until flows increase.  This is the fourth consecutive year we have issued curtailment orders or notices for junior surface water irrigation uses in the basin. It was also among the earliest dates we have curtailed this group of water users.

Office of Chehalis Basin

In 2016, the Legislature created the Office of Chehalis Basin within Ecology. While a main focus of the new office is to pursue long-term flood-damage reduction and restore aquatic habitat in the state’s second-largest river drainage system, the Office of Chehalis Basin is also tracking the impacts of the dry conditions.

By Kristin Johnson-Waggoner, communications manager