Climate change is making drought conditions increasingly common in Washington state, and this year is no exception. In April, the Department of Ecology declared a drought across nearly the entire state. The Seattle, Everett, and Tacoma metro area is excluded because of enhanced municipal reservoir and water management strategies; however, the entire state has experienced dry conditions.
Caroline Mellor, Water Resources Statewide Drought Lead at the Washington State Department of Ecology, said there are expected to be some impacts of low water supplies to agriculture.
“Farmers with junior water rights are expected to be interrupted earlier this year due to low snowpack,” Mellor said. “Food producers are anticipating the need to fallow land and cease irrigation, which can lead to crop stress and reduced yields due to inadequate water availability. Forecasted high temperatures will compound water supply challenges, with higher evapotranspiration rates and increased water demand for overhead irrigation for cooling in several systems. We will see an increase in water demand broadly.”
How will this drought be felt in King County? Statewide information can be useful, however, agriculture varies significantly between eastern and western Washington. Even within King County, the impact of drought can vary greatly depending on the products being grown, agricultural practices, and water source.
This year’s drought is driven both by low snowpack and forecasted hot and dry summer weather, meaning that all farmers could see effects. Those who utilize dry farming techniques or well water could be impacted by the hot, dry weather that will increase strain on plants and animals, and those who utilize streams for irrigation water could be doubly impacted by the weather and low streamflows due to lack of snowpack.
The last statewide drought declaration happened in 2021, the year King County and much of western Washington and Oregon experienced the historic heat dome event. Mellor said this drought is different.
“The drought in 2021 saw different conditions than we see now. The current drought is driven by a warm winter, leading to drought conditions that are predominately driven by a low snowpack. In May 2021, we were not yet in drought conditions. However, the June 2021 heat dome in Washington lead drought conditions to develop.”
“Forecasts this summer are for higher-than-normal temperatures and somewhat below normal precipitation,” Mellor said. “We can’t say yet if we will have another heat dome, but we hope not. Regardless of that level of heat, we expect higher-than-normal temperatures this summer.”
While it is unclear how intense this year’s drought will be, Department of Ecology’s statewide drought declaration is important as it opens up significant amounts of grant funding for public agencies to help farmers prepare and adapt.
A drought declaration also allows for more flexibility with water rights. As of the end of May, no water rights have been affected in King County, but if future conditions escalate the Department of Ecology can potentially expedite processes for emergency drought permits and process temporary transfers of water rights.
Farmers in eastern Washington have begun to see curtailments of water rights. Some farmers are preparing for drought by planting fewer crops, fallowing more land, choosing crops that require less water, ordering more animal feed to be shipped in, and even pulling out existing orchards to reduce water needs, according to interviews with farmers interviewed by Oregon Public Broadcasting.
It is unclear how exactly these changes to the local food economy will affect King County, however, it is possible that local fruit prices will increase due to reduced orchard sizes. Throughout the state, heat stress on plants and animals will likely reduce yields of most crops as well, potentially causing price disruptions throughout the local food system.
Dairy cattle, which generate over $30 million of agricultural sales in King County each year, are susceptible to heat stress. As this summer is projected to be hot, and water resources for cooling animals limited, health of dairy herds in the county is a concern. Heat stress can not only reduce milk production, but lead to disease, premature death, and low pregnancy rates among cattle, potentially affecting not only the present day but the future of a dairy herd.
Additionally, vegetables are the third largest sector of King County’s agricultural economy, and the most water intensive. This could make drought impacts to King County’s food economy proportionally more intense than other counties that have proportionally less water-intensive crops.
Summer droughts, due both to low snowpack or hot and dry summers, will become more and more common in the coming decades, according to the University of Washington Climate Impacts Group. Learning how to adapt a farm business to drought will be a key skill for King County farmers, as highlighted in work from University of Washington and Washington State University. Planning crops, watering schedules, and worker safety to accommodate hot and dry conditions ahead of future drought declarations will help farmers succeed in the changing climate.
For King County farmers, help in adapting to drought can be found at King Conservation District and Washington State University. King Conservation District provides grant funding and technical assistance to farmers, including services like free soil testing that can assist in planning how best to adapt to limited water.
Washington State University offers a wide range of free resources in the form of guides, articles, and podcasts for farmers on their website about irrigation and water conservation for farmers of all scales. Resources range from “Drip Irrigation for the Yard and Garden” to “Practical Use of Soil Moisture Sensors for Irrigation Scheduling.” To stay up to date on water topics, Washington State University also has an online publication called Water Currents.
The Department of Ecology is investing in this climate change preparedness by providing grant funding to public agencies to explore and institute drought preparedness through the new Drought Preparedness and Planning grant program.
While it may feel like this cold and rainy spring will never end, now is the time to prepare for this summer’s expected drought. For all types of farmers and gardeners alike, learning how to manage limited water supply and increasing heat will contribute to a vibrant local food system for the future.
To access resources on drought preparedness from Washington State University, visit extension.wsu.edu/water/conservation/.
To access technical assistance from King Conservation District, visit kingcd.org/programs/better-food/.
To learn more about the statewide drought declaration, visit ecology.wa.gov.
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