How the winter weather woes affect summer water supply

SEATTLE - With record low snow levels in the Olympics and Cascade Mountains,  the Seattle District office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is now "aggressively" filling up their reservoirs in our region.

Their Senior Water Manager says they're concerned but not yet worried, saying there's plenty of time to make up for our lack of winter snow-- with spring rains.

The Army Corps manage two dams in Western Washington: Howard Hanson and Mud Mountain. They also operate facilities in northern Idaho and western Montana. The dams serve several purposes: try to prevent winter flooding and manage river flows that are optimal for fish.

They also store water for summer usage during our dry summer months here in the Pacific Northwest. In particular, the Army Corps also controls the water supply for some communities in Pierce County-- including Tacoma.

With snow pack levels hovering around 6% of normal in the Olympics, 8% of normal for the Central Puget Sound, and a more robust 24% of normal for the South Puget Sound of normal for winter snow pack-- the Army Corps has already switched from flood control mode to water storage mode.

"Certainly it's cause for concern with our snow pack levels at record lows," says Ken Brettman. He's the Senior Water Manager with the Army Corps office in Seattle. He says the Corps is constantly looking forward and discussing the potential impacts of climate change on the Pacific Northwest. "This is an interesting snap shot for what the future might look like. Because we're not looking at a a precipitation issue, we're looking at a temperature issue. High temperatures, less snow. It's interesting to see how we're going to manage things like this in the future."

He says from all appearances, Western Washington has a lot of resilience with our dam and reservoir system.

But, it's because of this low snow pack that the Army Corps has begun filling their reservoirs in the region. Ideally, the Corps would like to see those reservoirs filled by the end of May. And with record setting rain in the region on Sunday, with SeaTac Int'l Airport gaining 2.20" of precipitation in the rain gauge-- we're well on our way to fill those man-made bodies of water.

There is some other good news too. While the population of the Puget Sound region is growing, the amount of water per person that we're using has actually held steady or fell over the last few years. He says conservation efforts for this precious resource of fresh water is always important.

And if there's more of these low snow pack years ahead due to human caused climate change or natural variation in our weather patterns-- Brettman says as long as Western Washington gets our average amount of precipitation-- we should be in pretty good shape.

So, low snow pack in future years would be devastating news for skiers and snowboarders and the resorts that rely on their business-- but low snow pack is is not yet bad news of news for farmers, gardeners or boaters.