Gov. Jay Inslee declared a state-wide drought for Washington on May 15, as dwindling snowpacks break record historic lows.

“We’re really starting to feel the pain from this snowpack drought,” Inslee said in a press release. “Impacts are already severe in several areas of the state. Difficult decisions are being made about what crops get priority water and how best to save fish.”

The Natural Resources Conservation Service, part of the US Department of Agriculture, stated that the Western snowpacks are at 16-percent of normal as of May 11.

“Across most of the West, snowpack isn’t just low – it’s gone,” NRCS Hydrologist David Garen said in a press release. “With some exceptions, this year’s snowmelt streamflow has already occurred.”

The mild winter, lack of snows and the unusually warm temperature has accelerated the snowpack’s melt.

“We still have some snowpack in northern Colorado, western Montana and southern Wyoming,” Garen said. “In addition, snowmelt from Canada will flow into the Columbia River.”

While places such as California and other southwestern states will be more impacted by the lack of snowmelt, in addition to an already arid environment, Washington won’t escape the drought. Already, 24 of 62 Washington counties have declared drought conditions.

According to the Washington State Department of Ecology, conditions are already worse than the record breaking drought of 2005 and this years’ snowpack melt is already projected to be the lowest in the last 64 years.

Groundwater is not only disappearing from the source, but it’s also disappearing from the wells scattered through the region.

“Groundwater – that is, water under the ground – plays a critical role in Washington’s economic and environmental future. It is the source of drinking water for more than 60-percent of Washington residents,” states a Department of Ecology’s Water Smart, not Water Short pamphlet.

The groundwater in Washington is the primary source of water for commercial, industrial, and residential needs for millions of customers. The average King County citizen uses an average of 87 gallons a day, versus the 100 gallons for the national average and the 238 gallons for the average daily use of Kittitas County’s citizens.

“The proliferation of permit-exempt wells in conjunction with increased impervious surface areas, both driven by robust population growth, are jointly the most significant threats to our future groundwater supplies, ” said Ken Slattery, manager of Ecology’s Water Resources Program.

While King County has not declared a drought, the Cedar River Watershead, where Seattle gets 70-percent of its water, is collected from snowmelt and rain.

What impacts have yet to be felt by the Sammamish River basin is unknown. The lack of snowpack may impact the fish using the Sammamish River as spawning grounds, such as local salmon populations.

“We’ve been busy the past few months working with sister agencies, tribes and communities to prepare and respond to this,” Bellon said in a press release. “We’re working hard to help farmers, communities and fish survive this drought.”

Individuals can be smart about water, too, by fixing leaks, turning off faucets, and reducing lawn size or watering at night to avoid evaporation of water and turning of the water while shaving or brushing teeth.

For more ways to conserve, please visit the Department of Ecology at www.ecy.wa.gov and click “Water Conservation: It all starts with you” in the resources tag to the right of the screen.

Sammamish comes out of Issaquah, (and the cedar river from the cedar river watershed). Cedar will potentially have impacts, being the main source of water in the lake, a lot more water in the sammamish, but it’s also a function of the corps of Engineers to keep lake up to locks level.