The drought declared in April and expanded in June continues with no end in sight.
A group of state and federal water supply experts — the Water Supply Availability Committee — says there’s not enough snow in Washington. Watch a recording of the latest water supply meeting on YouTube.
A warm and wet winter
So far, water year 2026 has been the warmest on record. It started in October with above normal temperatures and above normal precipitation. This was followed by the warmest December on record.
December precipitation improved long-term precipitation deficits, increased soil moisture and removed seasonal deficits from reservoirs. January continued the trend of being warmer than we need it to be. It was the 12th warmest and 22nd driest on record since 1895.
We need more snow
Unfortunately, there wasn’t nearly enough snow. In fact, according to Deputy State Climatologist, Karin Bumbaco, it would take a record-breaking amount of snow between now and April to get back to “normal” peak snowpack.
So far February has had above normal temperatures. Snowpack — currently 52% of normal — is the 3rd lowest on record for this time of year. According to Ecology’s statewide drought lead, Caroline Mellor, the current snowpack percentage can be misleading. She said snowpack in many basins is as low as 35% of normal. The statewide average has been brought up by just a few “normal” basins in the northern Cascade Mountains.
Current streamflows in most of the state range from normal to above normal. This isn’t necessarily good news as higher than normal streamflows in the winter can be connected to low snowpack.
To illustrate just how important snow is in this state, Yakima’s reservoirs are currently at 132% of average. This sounds encouraging. But at full capacity the reservoirs there only hold 1 million acre-feet of water. Without that “sixth reservoir” of snowpack, there is nowhere near enough water for the needs of the area. An acre-foot is a measurement of water one foot deep spread over one acre of land. In gallons the number would be in the quintillions. The water needs for irrigation and fisheries in the Yakima Basin from April through September are 2.5 million acre-feet.
Going forward
Water users in the Yakima Basin can expect a water availability forecast from the Bureau of Reclamation in early March.
“Low snowpack across the state leaves us concerned for water supply when most needed in late spring, summer and early fall in much of the rest of the state too,” Mellor said.
Temperature forecasts through April are uncertain, though there is a good chance for above normal precipitation. There is a high likelihood of above normal temperatures and below normal precipitation in the summer.
To learn more about what you can do to help conserve water, visit our water conservation page.