By Pepper Fisher
CLALLAM COUNTY – Following an extremely dry couple of months, the Department of Ecology has issued a drought advisory for most of Washington state, including the wettest spots in the 48 contiguous states, Aberdeen and Forks.
Eastern Washington is seeing by far the most alarming conditions this year, with growing concerns for farmers and ranchers. Ecology’s Water Resources Planner Jeff Marti says March through April was the fourth driest such period for Washington since 1895.
But few would expect a similar advisory for the western half of Clallam County and all coastal areas south of us.
Marti points out that while Washington mountains received an above-normal snowpack this year, not all watersheds are fed by melting snow.
“You have these basins that are lower elevation that don’t benefit from snowpack as much. And when the rain goes missing, it translates into lower run-off. The river forecasts are forecasting that the Calawah River that flows near Forks and the Chehalis and the Willapa and the Naselle, that the runoff that those rivers are expected to have for April to September are amongst the lowest ever recorded.”
Of particular concern this year is the Calawah River near Forks.
“We pay special attention to the Calawah because Forks, their water supply, they have several wells that are strongly dependent on how much water is in the Calawah, okay, they’re very connected. And the forecast is for the Calawah even to have less runoff this year than it had in 2015, which a lot of folks may remember was a major snow drought for the Pacific Northwest.”
Besides the water supply in the west end, there’s also the threat of increased wildfires this year. We spoke with Angie Lane, Wildfire Assistant Division Manager with the DNR, to find out if they were making any special preparations for this year’s fire season along the coast.
“No, we are seeing some dry conditions out there. We’ve already responded to several fires up in the Olympic region. So one of the things that DNR has done, we just pre-positioned a fuel truck to support our aviation operation so that we can run helicopters out of Forks. So, that’s one thing we’ve done so that we can support that area a little more effectively with regards to responding to fires more quickly.”
Lane says the DNR has completed their hiring for hotshot firefighters this year and positioned 8 of their 10 helicopters throughout the state in preparation for the months ahead.