Drought: Dry weather of 2005 drains reservoirs and ruins orchards
But it's not this year that worries farmers most
While the great drought of 2005 is proving less ruinous to most Washington farmers than expected, state officials say it has raised the risk of future crises by dangerously draining the region's already drying water tables and reservoirs.
Though some farmers have plowed under entire sections of their orchards due to lack of water, the industry has saved large swaths of plantings by drawing heavily from state reservoirs. As a result, state officials are now more concerned about 2006 and beyond than they are about 2005. Exacerbating their concerns are long-term projections of a gradually warming climate.
"If this lasts into the next year, the consequences could be quite serious. We've not had a multiyear drought since the '30s," said Doug McChesney, drought coordinator for the state Department of Ecology. "We've tended to have dry years followed by wet years, but you can't depend on that."
The Cascade Mountains' snowpack, which serves as the source of irrigation for the fertile and economically vital Yakima Valley, was virtually gone by early summer this year, and rivers that support irrigation are running dry. Despite spring rains that improved the short-term outlook for farms in many areas, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has been forced to place the allocation of water at 41 percent of optimum for some farmers in Yakima Valley's Roza Water District, the epicenter of the state's drought-related problems.
State Department of Agriculture hydrologist Kirk Cook likened the use of water resources this year to overdrawing a bank account.
"If we go into next year and it's like this year, we're going to have less to go to the bank for," he said. "You can only keep withdrawing from your savings bank so long, until you run out of things to withdraw."
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Drought: Dry weather of 2005 drains reservoirs and ruins orchards
