Washington state declares unprecedented fourth drought emergency in a row

Conrad Swanson, The Seattle Times on Apr 8, 2026

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SEATTLE — More than two months before the start of summer, Washington officials warn the state is headed for severe drought conditions not seen since the disastrous hot and dry season of 2015.

Washington Department of Ecology Director Casey Sixkiller declared a statewide drought emergency Wednesday morning.

This is the fourth such emergency Washington has faced, an unprecedented dry spell in state history. And the fact that state officials started ringing alarm bells so early in the year underscores just how painful they expect the summer drought to be. April 1 is typically when Washington’s mountain snowpack reaches its peak.

But this year the snowpack sits at about half its normal levels and it’s melting early. As that meltwater reaches the state’s relatively small and few reservoirs early, much of it will flow out to sea.

Until now, state officials have never before declared drought emergencies four years in a row. And this is the first statewide declaration since the drought of 2015.

“We now can see clearly what the future is going to be,” Sixkiller told The Seattle Times. “There’s not a giant snowstorm lurking around the corner to save us.”

This drought will cut into life across Washington, Sixkiller said. Everybody is likely to feel the lack of water in one way or another.

Emergency drought declaration

Wednesday’s declaration is an administrative one and in the big picture it means state officials expect the state will see 75% or less of its normal water supply for the year ahead. It also means that people, governments, businesses and more within the declaration area — the whole state — are likely to suffer some sort of hardship from the drought.

Harm in this case could include outright water shortages plus poor crop yield, suffering hydropower and dying fish.

The declaration unlocks about $3 million in grants to help local governments, tribes, irrigation districts, utilities and more to take on emergency projects and it expedites some clerical decisions on drought permits, temporary water rights transfers and other relief funding.

Over the past three years, emergency funding has been spent helping irrigation districts buy water to supplement their short supply, said Caroline Mellor, Ecology’s drought coordinator. It’s helped communities truck water in after their sources dried up and it’s been used to clear low-flowing rivers and streams so fish can survive.

But this emergency money also has its limitations.

Pitfalls

First, $3 million doesn’t stretch that far when people all across the state need help.

To put that number into context, think of the Yakima River basin, arguably Washington’s region most vulnerable to drought. Agriculture in the basin alone generates an estimated $4.5 billion in revenue each year and a majority of the country’s hops, apples and cherries.

Farmers in the region already expect water shortages — some will turn off their faucets entirely to conserve the resource. Everything from crop quality and quantity will suffer, the effects trickling down to all the supporting industries and communities as well.

Last year, when state officials anticipated a 30% water supply shortfall, they predicted a loss of up to 6,000 jobs and some $424 million to the economy. This year, the snowpack sits even lower.

Some local governments, utilities or other organizations also have a difficult time qualifying for the limited emergency aid, Mellor added. The state requires grantees to match 50% of the money they’re allotted and for some smaller groups, that can be an insurmountable number.

Perhaps most significantly, however, that state funding is limited to emergency projects, Mellor noted. Things like temporary water leases, trucking in new supply or clearing rivers for fish qualify. But long-term projects like drilling new wells or building new reservoirs do not.

Those projects might carry a heftier price tag up front, Mellor said, but in the long run they’re a much more affordable way to combat drought.

For that type of work, state lawmakers would have to allocate much more money. And at the moment, Washington’s budget is far from flush.

What’s next

Although officials with Ecology declared another emergency Wednesday, much of the state isn’t likely to feel the effects of the drought for weeks or months to come. Major metropolitan areas west of the Cascades don’t appear headed for drinking water shortages, Sixkiller said, but people there should still think about ways to conserve.

The worst is likely to come after the remaining snowpack melts away and reservoirs start to dip. When the supply is lowest — late summer or early fall — that’s when people need water the most.