Washington Gov. Gary Locke on Wednesday authorized the Department of
Ecology to declare a statewide drought emergency.
Locke noted that the state’s snowpack is at just 50 to 60 percent of
average for this time of year, which will sharply reduce the amount of
runoff into streams this summer. In fact, the flow in the Columbia River
for April through September is expected to be less than 57 percent of
average.