Little Snow May Cause Water Shortage

The record storms that pounded the state earlier this winter haven't meant there will be more precious water in dry summer months.

The mountain snowpack is only about 82 percent of normal across Washington, thanks to little snow in the past month, a federal water supply expert said Feb. 10.

"The snowpack this season has been as manic and as erratic as any I've ever seen in my 16 years measuring and monitoring conditions," said Scott Pattee, a specialist with U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The agency forecasts water supply based on the depth and water content of snow at more than 100 snow data collection sites throughout the state. Managers use that information to make decisions regarding how much water to hold or release from reservoirs.

About 70 percent of the state depends on melting mountain snow to fill rivers and streams for municipal, agricultural and recreational use.

This winter began with little snow in the mountains. "But from mid-December through the first of January a series of winter storms transformed a 40 percent of average snowpack into one that was slightly above normal," Pattee said.

A series of storms in December and early January brought huge amounts of snow and rain that caused damage across the state, including flooding and landslides when heavy rains melted much of the snow. Schools and roads were closed. The Spokane area received a record of more than 6 feet of snow in the period, causing numerous building collapses.

Then the snow stopped.

The Feb. 1 statewide snowpack readings were 82 percent of average, down from a high of 106 percent following the January storms, Pattee said.

The Green and Tolt river basins in the central Puget Sound area were the only basins to remain above average, at 105 percent and 130 percent, respectively, he said. The Conconully Lake area in north-central Washington reported the lowest reading at 34 percent of average.

Pattee said long-range precipitation forecasts were unclear.

"Unless we make up a lot of ground in the next couple of months, resource managers may have to begin planning for worst-case scenarios and water shortages for spring and summer runoff," he said.