03/15/05 Any hope for snow pack?, Part one

As the month of March progresses, Pacific Northwest states are increasing preparations for severely dry, potentially drought like conditions through the summer months. At least for one state, Washington, it has already reached the point where an emergency drought declaration was issued by its Governor last week. Such a declaration would create an emergency coordination center to handle drought relief efforts, boost drought related appropriations from the Washington State Legislature by $8.2 million dollars, and alert the Washington National Guard to prepare for assistance in fighting wildfires caused by the increased chance of drought. Now the reason Governor Christine Gregoire issued the declaration was reports issued by agencies monitoring snow pack, moisture, and precipitation that mountain snow pack averages were at twenty six per cent of normal, and that precipitation for the month of February came in at or near record lows in many areas of the state. Scott Pattee of U.S.D.A.'s Natural Resources Conservation Service Washington office in Spokane says since the announcement, the numbers for mountain snow pack averages continue to drop. PATTEE: We're down to twenty three per cent. Three points doesn't seem like much but when you're talking about losing it, as much as we have, it does make a huge difference. But it is not just Washington. Idaho State Government is still in the process of determining not if, but when, emergency drought declarations should be issued. That comes as the State Legislature works through a myriad of water rights issues that adds to the complicated situation created by Mother Nature. But Ron Abromovich of N.R.C.S.'s Boise office says that drought declarations on a county by county basis will be coming soon as evidence of drought grows, such as February precipitation that in the Northern and Central mountains of Idaho came in at only twenty to twenty five per cent of average. ABROMOVICH: We had precipitation amounts that ranged from three-tenths of an inch to two inches and those are more typical what falls it the summer time in the mountains of Idaho rather than in the middle of the winter. And we're just setting record high temperatures even at our short term SNOTEL stations, so the snow pack is just not accumulating without the storms coming in. And Abromovich and Pattee hit the mark when saying the region feels more like early summer than late winter. All agree this year could be the driest for the Northwest in twenty eight years. But is there some hope that last minute precipitation will provide a miracle of sorts? Some answers will be discussed in our next program.