State officials request $9 million in preparation for possible drought

YAKIMA — With snowpack across the state still far short of normal, the state Department of Ecology is preparing a drought relief plan.

The agency has requested almost $9 million from the Legislature, to be available if needed for drought relief assistance.

A drought has not yet been declared, but at-risk areas include the Yakima Basin, the Lower Columbia, Puget Sound and the Olympic Peninsula. For a drought to be declared, a region has to have water supplies at 75 percent of normal or below.

Snowpack in the Yakima Basin is 31 percent of normal, but the region’s five reservoirs are nearly full, holding 70 percent more water than normal for this time of year.

Drought relief funding is approved, it could drill emergency wells, lease water rights and build pumps or pipelines.

The last statewide drought was declared in March 2005. That year, Ecology spent about $8.5 million on drought relief.