SPOKANE — You might think that the record-breaking snowfall so far this winter in Washington state would ensure there will be plenty of water to avoid drought when it melts this spring and summer.
You would be wrong.
The federal government says the state’s mountain snowpack is just average so far this winter.
“For all those residents who have been digging out their driveways and sidewalks for the past month, the notion of an ‘average’ snowpack must seem like pure hydrological nonsense,” said Scott Pattee, of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, which estimates whether the state will have enough water to get through the dry summer months.
“But the numbers don’t lie,” Pattee said. “The depth and water content of the snowpack statewide is just about average.”
The NRCS measures the depth and water content of snow at more than 100 locations around the state. That data is used to estimate how much water will flow down rivers and streams and into reservoirs as the snow melts. A shortage of water has been a regular problem in recent summers.
Pattee said the heavy snowfall in December dramatically improved water prospects for this summer. Before the big storms, the snowpack was only 24 percent to 40 percent of normal around the state.
“In just a few weeks, we’ve closed the gap and now stand at 106 percent statewide,” Pattee said.
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