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'Boomer' February Means Good News For Washington’s Water Supply

The most recent water supply forecast for Washington state shows all basins across the state are above 90 percent of normal.
NRCS
The most recent water supply forecast for Washington state shows all basins across the state are above 90 percent of normal.

The latest Washington state water supply forecast is out and managers said Monday there’s no reason to believe the state might face drought this year.

Scott Pattee keeps track of the water supply in Washington for the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service. He said things are looking good as Washington’s growing season approaches.

“Unless something really crazy and unworldly happens over this month or even April, I just don’t see there being really any shortages of water anywhere to speak of,” Pattee said.

While January was extremely dry, Pattee called February “a boomer.” He said snow and rain significantly increased the snowpack last month, so much that all basins statewide are above 90 percent of normal, which means there’s plenty of water to fill reservoirs as things begin to melt and runoff.

The NRCS does not do any flood forecasting.

Copyright 2017 Northwest News Network

Emily Schwing started stuffing envelopes for KUER FM90 in Salt Lake City, and something that was meant to be a volunteer position turned into a multi-year summer internship. After developing her own show for Carleton Collegeââââ
Emily Schwing
Emily Schwing comes to the Inland Northwest by way of Alaska, where she covered social and environmental issues with an Arctic spin as well as natural resource development, wildlife management and Alaska Native issues for nearly a decade. Her work has been heard on National Public Radio’s programs like “Morning Edition” and “All things Considered.” She has also filed for Public Radio International’s “The World,” American Public Media’s “Marketplace,” and various programs produced by the BBC and the CBC. She has also filed stories for Scientific American, Al Jazeera America and Arctic Deeply.