As the fall rains return to Washington, it’s easy to forget that we just exited one of the warmest summers in our state’s recorded history.
June to August of 2025 was, according to the Washington State Climate Office, the fourth-warmest since 1895. The summer of 2025 was also the seventh-driest in that time span – with much of the state under a drought emergency declaration, the sixth in the past 10 years.
Last spring, snow on parts of the Cascade Mountain melted off as much as a month earlier than normal – meaning there was less water in our streams and rivers even before the summer heat.
Hot. Dry. Drought. Is this simply the new normal for Washington? Is there anything we can do to prepare for it if it is?
That’s the question a group of 10 Washington State agencies are grappling with.
We know that climate change is impacting every corner of Washington with challenges far beyond drought. On the Pacific Coast, rising sea levels and more intense storms are flooding coastal communities and Tribal lands. Extreme temperatures are disrupting agriculture and putting vulnerable communities and those without air conditioning at risk. Wildfires are more frequent and severe, threatening communities, and spreading harmful smoke.
A year ago, we launched the state’s Climate Resilience Strategy to help communities, infrastructure, and natural and working lands prepare for and adapt to impacts like these. Since then, Ecology and nine partner agencies have made significant progress by securing new resources and funding, advancing actions, and strengthening coordination. Ecology is releasing the first progress report, which highlights these achievements and the steps ahead.
Advancing actions amidst challenges
State agencies have made significant progress in the past year implementing actions that received new funding from the legislature as well as those that are supported with existing resources. Examples of this work include:
- Ensuring state-funded infrastructure is resilient to climate impacts: Ecology is working with agencies and local partners to improve how state-funded infrastructure grant programs account for climate change in funding decisions and project designs to ensure investments of public dollars are resilient and provide their intended benefits.
- Supporting the agricultural sector and working lands: The Department of Agriculture published a companion resilience strategy for Washington’s agricultural sector to support farmers, farm workers, and agricultural communities, while also advancing animal composting following climate-driven mass mortality events (e.g. floods) and expanding access to food security programs.
- Reducing wildfire risks: The Department of Natural Resources and State Conservation Commission are coordinating post-fire recovery efforts and supporting on-the-ground actions in private forest lands to reduce fire risk.
- Responding to extreme heat and wildfire smoke in communities: The Department of Health is improving how state agencies respond to wildfire smoke and extreme heat events in communities most at risk.
- Building ecosystem resilience to climate change: The Departments of Fish and Wildlife and Transportation are improving habitat connectivity to reduce vehicle-wildlife collisions and enable wildlife to safely move across landscapes to migrate, find food, and adapt to changing conditions.
- Improving equitable community engagement: The Department of Commerce is helping overburdened communities and vulnerable populations engage in local comprehensive plan updates that now include required climate change elements.
To support the Climate Resilience Strategy, state agencies submitted funding requests for the 2025-2027 biennial budget for most of the actions identified in the strategy. The final state budget for 2025-2027 included funding for 27 of these requests. These resources provide agencies with the capacity to implement work that will strengthen resilience for communities, infrastructure, and natural and working lands across Washington
Ongoing state budget challenges and federal climate policy reversals have created extra hurdles for this important work. Meanwhile, federal policy changes have also impacted the flow of resources to Tribes, local governments, non-profit organizations, and other communities we serve.
Leading the way through stronger partnerships
These challenges create an opportunity for state leadership and strategic investment. This means collaboration across agencies is more important than ever.
Within the strategy, state agencies recommended forming an interagency council to provide high level leadership and direction, foster collaboration among our agencies, support strategy implementation, and advance shared goals to build a more climate-resilient Washington.
The first meeting of the Interagency Climate Resilience Coordinating Council launched earlier this month. Secretaries and Directors from our partner agencies came together to better understand each other’s priorities, identify opportunities for collaboration, and commit to supporting implementation of the Climate Resilience Strategy.
Moving forward, this approach will ensure that state government is aligned across agencies in support of common goals and a shared vision for a more equitable and climate-resilient Washington.
Looking ahead
In the coming months, agencies will continue to implement actions, coordinate our activities, and navigate shared challenges.
Together, our state agencies are preparing for the upcoming 2026 legislative session with a focus on maintaining support for existing programs that support climate resilience and targeted asks for funding to reduce wildfire risks.
We know this work cannot wait. Climate impacts such as flooding, wildfires, smoke, and extreme heat are already impacting Washingtonians and will become more frequent and severe. These challenges will affect all people in our state, especially communities most at-risk: those facing existing health disparities, families facing economic instability, and communities that have been historically overburdened by pollution as well as social and economic stressors.
We are leading the way with a commitment to achieving equitable, climate-resilient outcomes for our state. By continuing to prepare for and adapt to climate change, we strengthen our ability to serve people and communities across Washington – now and in the future.