Wait, how can there be a drought when it’s raining?

While recent rain is helping many parts of the state, more than a
few scattered showers are needed to fix Washington's drought.

For the past few months, Washington’s weather has been all over the map.

Residents of Spokane and the south east experienced a relatively damp spring, while much of western and central Washington have seen warmer than normal temperatures and low precipitation since April.

And for most of the summer, the usually fire-resistant west side has had a higher risk of wildfires relative to historical norms than has most of Eastern Washington, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

As of July 11, the U.S. Drought Monitor still shows abnormally dry to severe drought conditions in all but the southeast corner of our state. Five percent of the state’s rivers are at record low, and many locations in western and north central Washington are expecting between 50 and 75 percent of normal stream flow through September.

So what does this all mean when more than half the state is in a declared drought emergency?

Jeff Marti, Ecology’s Water Resources Program drought coordinator, says recent precipitation has been a welcome change, but it hasn’t made up the deficit caused by warmer than usual conditions and a lack of snow pack.

“Over the last few days, some parts of the state have gotten some good shots of rain, and some places, like the Olympic Peninsula, have really needed it," Marti said. "Some rivers have rebounded nicely, but about a quarter of our rivers are still experiencing flows much below normal. It will take continuing rainfall to make that more than a temporary rebound. Our lowest flow season is still ahead.”

Conditions by region

While cooler weather and some rain has bumped up flows that supply irrigation water and support important fish migration in Central Washington, water supply remains in flux. Low reservoir levels in the Yakima Basin – the 7th lowest storage volume in 44 years – mean farmers must remain vigilant and fish managers on alert.

From arid areas to sudden downpours, weather patterns east of the Columbia River have meanwhile been wide ranging. The northeast portions of Pend Oreille and Stevens counties are in severe drought, while the east side’s midsection has seen thunderstorms and flash flood warnings several times over the past few weeks.

Crop damage from heavy rains was reported in Okanogan and Ferry counties, although NOAA’s National Weather Service shows total regional precipitation hovering just under average for the past month.

Conditions in the southeast have mirrored the majority of the U.S., and are wetter than in past years. Walla Walla basin water users have seen some low flows, but that’s mainly due to normal demand across the border in Oregon.

Taken as a whole, Washington’s lingering dehydration – the 13th driest July-June period ever recorded in the state – stands in stark contrast to the rest of the country. According to NOAA, the continental U.S. had its wettest 12 months on record, even as the Pacific Northwest became more parched. And with much of the summer yet to come, resolving this drought will require more than scattered showers.

Washington precipitation departure from average (inches), from July 1-15, 2019. Image courtesy of NOAA.

Drought in the rainforest

Known for rain, city of Forks struggles with water supply

You know something is wrong when one of the wettest places in the entire country is worried about water. That’s what’s happening in the city of Forks on the west side of the Olympic Peninsula. Forks, famous for the Twilight Series and rain, is experiencing a drought. 

One of the wettest places in the country

Nestled in the temperate rainforest, Forks is technically the third wettest place in the lower 48 with 119 inches of annual rainfall. By comparison, Seattle is 140 miles east and gets about 37.5 inches year—that’s less than Dallas, Texas.  And the wettest spot in the continental United States isn’t too far from Forks either. Just to the south in Grays Harbor County, the Aberdeen Reservoir gets a whopping 131 inches a year. Still, Fork’s massive amount of rainfall is certainly enough to justify its soggy reputation.

The Calahwa River in Forks has hit record low daily flows this spring

A warm and dry spring

So why is a place that gets so much rain concerned about water? Forks, along with the rest of the state’s Pacific Ocean coast, experienced the second driest spring on record since measuring started in 1895. In addition, we had the eighth warmest May on record which melted the mountain snowpack much faster and earlier than normal. The combination of the lack of spring rain and early snow melt has created a water double whammy for the Olympic Peninsula.

State and federal drought determinations

Gov. Jay Inslee declared a drought emergency for the area and the US Drought Monitor recently determined that most of the Olympic Peninsula was facing “severe” drought. Those determinations reflect what we’re seeing on the ground. Peninsula rivers and streams such as the Satsop, Hoh, Calahwa, Hoko, and Elwha have recently hit all-time record low daily flows.

Forks is feeling the heat

In Forks, where the city relies on wells to provide drinking water, officials are growing increasingly concerned about having enough water heading into the summer months.  Water levels in the city’s wells are dropping by about a foot a week and Forks has already asked residents to voluntarily begin to conserve water. Officials expect a decision about mandatory water conservation in coming weeks.

The Salmon River south of Forks has a fish hatchery and dangerously low flows

Ecology is working to find solutions

We recently held an informational meeting in Forks where Mike Gallagher, Ecology’s water resources manager for southwest Washington and the Olympic Peninsula,  gave a presentation about current and projected water supply conditions. Some attendees represented small water systems in the area and told us they are also experiencing dwindling water supplies. These small water suppliers are now discussing contingency plans that involve mandatory conservation, water rationing, and the need to truck water to their customers.

Forks officials are submitting applications in hopes of taking advantage of grant funding recently made available by Ecology to address hardships caused by the drought. In 2019, state lawmakers appropriated $2 million to Ecology for drought response. Grant funding is used for projects such as drilling emergency standby wells, or helping hatcheries maintain cool and clean water for fish. 

By Jeff Zenk, Southwest Region communications

Air Time: A summer of unhealthy smoke

Now that was a bad wildfire season!

By Ranil Dhammapala, Ecology atmospheric scientist

Wildfires in 2015 burned more acres in Washington State than the last five years combined, according to data from the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center. Abnormally warm temperatures, a snow drought last winter, early snow melt this spring and a mostly dry summer were among the reasons.

In addition to the tragic loss of lives and property, many people were forced to breathe heavily polluted air for several days. Eastern Washingtonians were exposed to an average of about 11 days where air quality was either Unhealthy or worse, compared to an average of about seven days in recent years with bad wildfires.

As can be expected, air quality varied widely from place to place. Omak for instance saw air quality degrade much more than it did in past years, while Wenatchee's air quality was far better this wildfire season than the unprecedented exposure to smoke experienced in 2012. 

Not all smoke plumes are measured by the network of air quality monitoring sites.  Several temporary monitors placed in smoke impacted communities recorded poor air quality at different times, but those data have not been considered in the above analysis.

Satellite picture on Aug. 23, 2015, shows widespread smoke in the Pacific Northwest. Measured air quality conditions are also shown with colored dots. Burgundy, red and orange being the most concerning for smoke exposure.

While the human body can recover from short-term exposure to wildfire smoke, it is well known that smoke inhalation causes breathing difficulties among people with prior respiratory or cardiovascular diseases. Elderly people, pregnant women, infants and children can be susceptible at lower pollution levels. Extreme smoke levels can trigger heart attacks or strokes, even among healthy people. 

As we transition from wildfire season to home heating season, the public is encouraged to observe any burn bans that might be imposed in case of stagnant air and take necessary precautions to limit exposure to impaired air. 

If you are a wood burner, make sure you only burn dry, seasoned firewood in small, hot fires. A low-polluting woodstove or pellet stove would make an excellent Christmas gift. Your family and neighbors will thank you for it.

Our WCC crews support wildfire response statewide

By Laura Schlabach, WCC Outreach Coordinator

WCC members Lane Cromelin and Sonya Kaufman
dig line and remove debris on the Illabot Fire.

Raging wildfires across Central and Eastern Washington have kept firefighters busy across the state, including some of our own Washington Conservation Corps (WCC) crews. Twenty AmeriCorps members, led by WCC supervisor Jay McMillen, assisted Department of Natural Resources as a hand crew on multiple fire dispatches this summer, starting with the Illabot Fire near Rockport in mid-June.

Serving on the fire line

Our WCC hand crew first dispatched to the Stewart Mountain Fire, supporting efforts within the first 48-72 hour period – referred to as an initial attack. On multiple fires following Stewart Mountain, the hand crew surveyed burned land, examining it closely for remaining heat, smoke or embers and extinguishing the spots with water and dirt – a procedure referred to as mopping up. These AmeriCorps hand crew members also dug fire line, or linear ditches that serve as fire barriers to prevent the fires from advancing.

WCC member Justin Beebe wraps fire
hose at Sleepy Hollow fire camp.

Supporting fire camps

In addition to our hand crew, over 80 of our WCC AmeriCorps members deployed this summer to support 15 different fire camps across the state. Camp crews assist with food distribution, volunteer management, camp maintenance, equipment organization and anything else that might come up.

Although recent heavy rainfall across Washington has provided temporary relief to low stream and river flows, wildfires continue to burn across parts of Eastern Washington. Wildfire risk is still extremely high. As of September 8, 10 of our WCC AmeriCorps members are still serving at the Okanagan Complex fire camp.

Visit Governor Inslee’s wildfire resource page for wildfire status updates and other resources.

Dispatch from the fireline: A personal account

Michael Hanley, a second-year AmeriCorps member on the King County Spike Crew, served on our WCC hand crew this summer. He wrote the following description of the crew’s recent dispatch to the Rutter Canyon Fire:

“Handheld radios crackle to life outside the rural fire station. All twenty AmeriCorps members of the WCC hand crew fall silent. A scratchy voice announces a new fire burning northeast of Spokane. Any conversation with the Department of Natural Resources dispatcher is transmitted in a dialect of unit names, fire numbers, township and range positions and fire jargon. (WCC Supervisor) Jay McMillen, fluent in fire jargon, flashes a pen to a notepad. I strain to understand the conversation. Zach Leavitt, fellow AmeriCorps member, Googles the fire address. We move around excitedly when he tells us the satellite image shows forest and hills. Bulldozers build fire line wherever possible, but command sends in hand crews like us when terrain is too rough for heavy equipment. 

Our unit name is called. We pile into trucks. The first bursts of adrenaline hit as our caravan drives south. The radio croaks with fire engine traffic. "Fire's origin is in a box canyon." "Difficult access and egress." Trees torch and black smoke pours into the growing grey cloud. The fire is too hot. Helicopters drop buckets of water from the nearby river. Tankers drop retardant lines to cool the flanks. We wait at the staging area. We hydrate and spit sunflower seeds. We talk to homeowners who thank us and take pictures. As the sun sets, command sends us to hold the east edge of the fire. We patrol for embers that might jump our line. The Perseid meteor shower throws sparks across the sky. No fire crosses our line. We're back at our trucks eating pizza by 1:30 a.m. The Rutter Canyon fire is held to 150 acres. 

At this moment, 17 WCC folks and three DNR employees have been fighting fire together in the Northeast corner of the state for two weeks. We are on our fifth fire. We have cut thousands of feet of hand line, called in water drops from helicopters and air tankers and mopped up acres of smoldering ash. Our bodies have been pushed to the limits. Our tempers have occasionally been tested, but we have all come out stronger. I can honestly say this experience has left a lasting mark on me. There is something amazing about depending on 19 other individuals as deeply as is required to fight fire. I am very grateful to supervisors Rob Crawford, Ernie Farmer and Jay McMillen for building the WCC's firefighting capacity and keeping me safe out here.”

This WCC crew walks in a grid formation to search the ground for heat and smoke as part of their wildfire mop-up
procedure at the MacMahon Fire near Deer Creek. Photo courtesy of Michael Hanley

WCC’s disaster response program

Long hours, unpredictable conditions and ultimately rewarding experiences serving communities in need often characterize WCC disaster response efforts. Deployments range from national to local disasters, supporting flood response and prevention, wildfire operations, hurricane assistance and more. Four of our WCC crews are designated disaster response crews, though any crew has the potential to deploy.

Join WCC

Do you want to help the environment, meet great people and make a real difference? WCC is currently hiring for the 2015-2016 crew year! Ecology's Washington Conservation Corps, an AmeriCorps Program, consists of three subprograms: the original WCC, Veteran Conservation Corps and Puget SoundCorps.

See photos of the types of projects WCC members work on during their service in our WCC Projects Flickr set. Learn more and apply online today to become a member of WCC:

www.ecy.wa.gov/wcc