State of Emergency in Washington?

[garyhaupt]

Really? I mean..yes, I can see the news...it is real, but wow...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/washington-state-declares-drought-emergency-1.3076115

What does this for RV'rs? And the vineyards?

(ok Gary..don't panic)

Gary Haupt

[frankdamp]

Anacortes is a bit drier than Everett or Kirkland - places we lived before moving here, but this last fall/no winter/spring has been nothing like what we've experienced in the 15 years we've lived here. Spooky!

Our main problem here is morning fog, which can often stick around until 15:00 or later. It might be affected by the fact that the bay a couple of miles south of our neighborhood is about 150 fathoms deep and is primarily snow melt-water. If you wade into the water at a neighborhood beach, your feet are numb from the cold before your knees are wet!

[Cummins12V98]

frankdamp wrote:
Our big problem in WA is we didn't get a winter - it switched directly from fall to spring. In our area (the San Juans), we had no snow at all and only a few nights with below-freezing temps. Rainfall has also been significantly less than usual. No long periods of "800 scattered, 1500 overcast, 1/2 mile visibility, rain and fog". We used to joke that our local airport could use just one recorded ATIS message like that for most of December through February.

The San Juan's are very dry generally compared to Western WA.

[frankdamp]

Our big problem in WA is we didn't get a winter - it switched directly from fall to spring. In our area (the San Juans), we had no snow at all and only a few nights with below-freezing temps. Rainfall has also been significantly less than usual. No long periods of "800 scattered, 1500 overcast, 1/2 mile visibility, rain and fog". We used to joke that our local airport could use just one recorded ATIS message like that for most of December through February.

[goducks10]

While some streams seem to be flowing fine, others aren't. Oregon lakes and reservoirs rely heavily on winter rain and snow pack. Both of which were way below normal this year. No one mismanaged anything. You can't stock pile anymore water than what's given to you. Most reservoirs in Oregon are for flood purposes or irrigation.
Two that come to mind are Detroit Reservoir and Green Peter reservoir. Both are for flood control. They both empty into secondary reservoirs. Detroit empties into Big Cliff reservoir which provides power and flood control. Green Peter empties into Foster reservoir which is also for flood control. While Big Cliff and Foster are mostly full, the two reservoirs that they rely on are severely low. The result of low snow pack and non existent winter rains.

You can spin anything, and you can call it what you want but a drought is a drought regardless of the water shortage. Had we had close to normal snow and rain this winter things would've been fine. Problem with predicting weather is you can't very easy. Detroit and Green Peter are nearly empty during the winter so when the heavy rains and snow melt occurs they can fill them all the while controlling the outflow thru Foster and Big Cliff. You can't leave them full all winter then expect to control flooding when you have more inflow than safe outflow.

[sh410]

"Sure they are down and next year they will probably be up. That's nature."

For the farmers in Central Washington that depend on water, "probably" is not a good planning tool.

[Cummins12V98]

pnichols wrote:

isa wrote:
There is no shortage of water in the Pacific Northwest region i.e. the coastal area north of San Francisco through Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.

That's not what Oregon residents told us a couple of weeks ago when we were up there touring and camping along their coast.

Everything looked green and all rivers/streams were flowing full ... however residents told us that their mountain snowfall levels - that keep them green the rest of the year - are the problem. It appears that these levels are way down in Oregon, too ... just like in California.

Our relatives in Washington are telling us the same thing - inland mountain snowpacks are down everywhere in the western coastal states.

Sure they are down and next year they will probably be up. That's nature.

[SCVJeff]

isa wrote:
There is no shortage of water in the Pacific Northwest region i.e. the coastal area north of San Francisco through Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.

There is however a lack of planning for facilities to contain the abundance of rain that falls during the winter months. Some of the precipitation will be snow that will eventually become water.

Until the governments involved get their thinking and spending caps on, the west coast of North America is going to have water restrictions forced upon them for evermore.

this whole statement makes no sense at all. Up until this year the management practices have worked fine for the last several generations, but not this time. So who knew there was a historic drought around the corner? And how much artificial storage would you like to have for the hopefully once in a lifetime event? Wouldnt it be nice if these events could be predicticed? Forcasters and planners can only do with what they have at hand.

[pnichols]

isa wrote:
There is no shortage of water in the Pacific Northwest region i.e. the coastal area north of San Francisco through Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.

That's not what Oregon residents told us a couple of weeks ago when we were up there touring and camping along their coast.

Everything looked green and all rivers/streams were flowing full ... however residents told us that their mountain snowfall levels - that keep them green the rest of the year - are the problem. It appears that these levels are way down in Oregon, too ... just like in California.

Our relatives in Washington are telling us the same thing - inland mountain snowpacks are down everywhere in the western coastal states.

[isa]

There is no shortage of water in the Pacific Northwest region i.e. the coastal area north of San Francisco through Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.

There is however a lack of planning for facilities to contain the abundance of rain that falls during the winter months. Some of the precipitation will be snow that will eventually become water.

Until the governments involved get their thinking and spending caps on, the west coast of North America is going to have water restrictions forced upon them for evermore.

[holstein13]

Raften wrote:
Not to worry, my crazy neighbor says a winter akin to the one we had in 1969 is on tap.

Let's hope he's right. Look at Texas. They were in a drought situation until last month. Lakes went from nearly empty to overflowing in a few weeks. So it could happen.

The only difference is that California relies on snowpack and that has been suffering over a longer period of time than rain water. Climate change isn't helping either.

[SCVJeff]

Raften wrote:
Not to worry, my crazy neighbor says a winter akin to the one we had in 1969 is on tap.

me thinks your crazy neighbor may not be.

[Raften]

Not to worry, my crazy neighbor says a winter akin to the one we had in 1969 is on tap.

[pnichols]

SCVJeff wrote:
THIS JUST IN:
California water use falls by 13.5%

.... Only another 36.5% to go and we'll finally be gettin' somewhere. 😉

[SCVJeff]

THIS JUST IN:
California water use falls by 13.5%