Water Supply Yakima Basin Pt 1

Water Supply Yakima Basin Pt 1

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
I'm Bob Larson. What started out to be a pretty good year with an ample snow pack and water supply in Washington state, the past couple of warm and dry months have quickly changed that outlook ...

JOYE ... "I April, things were looking really good and we had a big storm in February that sort of eased some concerns from a dry November and December. And the, the Spring just didn't produce any precipitation and, in particular, we had a very hot and dry May so there was an early, high runoff and, as a result, the Bureau of Reclamation, which manages irrigation in the Yakima Basin has already gone on stored water."

Joye Redfield-Wilder with the State Department of Ecology says the change will bring challenges for some ...

JOYE ... "We do have an adjudicated basin and that means that some people will get less than their full share and then others will actually be shut off."

Redfield-Wilder says the interesting thing this year is how quickly things turned around ...

JOYE ... "More and more, we're seeing this pattern where we seasonally, we need a good bit of rain and snow in the fall, we need it in the Winter, and we also need it in the Spring to have manageable water supplies."

She says much of Western Washington and the Yakima River Basin are abnormally dry already. Listen tomorrow for more on the water supply outlook and the chances for drought in the weeks and months ahead.

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