Drought 2021-2022

A drought emergency has been declared for most of the watersheds in Washington. The drought emergency declaration includes all watersheds except the following:

• WRIA 7 – Snohomish River basin (Everett water supply)
• WRIA 8 – Cedar-Sammamish basin (Seattle water supply)
• WRIA 9 – Duwamish-Green basin (Tacoma water supply)

Based on current conditions and forecasts, the Seattle regional area, Everett, and Tacoma have sufficient water supply for people and fish this summer, and do not meet the drought threshold.

We continue to monitor water supplies and encourage people to use water wisely.

The three watersheds outside the drought emergency declaration are located in an area covering South Snohomish County and the majority of King County. They provide water for the Seattle regional area, and Everett and Tacoma’s service areas. Benefitting from mountain snowpack and more precipitation, the area was not included in the earlier drought advisory. Municipal water suppliers in these areas have plenty of storage, and redundancies such as groundwater and wells that ensure they can provide water during drought.

A formal drought declaration allows us to provide emergency drought relief by:

• Expediting processes for Emergency Drought Permits
• Processing temporary transfers of water rights
• Holding public education workshops
• Providing funding assistance for public entities (municipalities, irrigation districts, PUDs, etc.)
• Regulating junior water users to protect senior water rights

We're in the process of identifying needs and potential funding.

Examples of how we have used funds in past droughts include:

• Processing emergency water right permits
• Leasing water from irrigators growing annual crops for instream and out-of-stream uses
• Funding emergency infrastructure for communities and irrigators
• Resolving fish passage barriers

Streamflows, groundwater levels, and soil moisture are far below normal, with forecasts indicating little likelihood that conditions will improve this summer. These conditions are leading to undue hardship for water users, including small community water systems and farmers.

Many of the areas in the drought emergency are prime agricultural regions and stand to lose valuable crops due to water supply shortages. Fish are also at risk when river and stream flows reach dangerously low levels.

Water users worried their water supply is at risk of failing should contact the nearest Department of Ecology Regional Office.

Part of our process to project water supplies includes working with state and federal agencies to evaluate climate forecasts. The Office of the Washington State Climatologist and NOAA have forecast warm and dry conditions in the areas declared in drought emergency. For a full report on climate forecasting, visit our Statewide Conditions page. You can also help us monitor the drought by submitting observations and photographs to the Conditions Monitoring Observation System.

• Chapter 43.83B RCW - Drought Conditions
• Chapter 173-166 WAC - Emergency Drought Relief