2001 Drought Implications
On March 14, 2001, under recommendation from the Department of Ecology� (DOE) and the Executive Water Emergency Committee, Governor Gary Locke authorized the DOE to declare a drought emergency in Washington State. There are two statutory criteria for the declaration of drought: 1) Water supply less than 75% of normal 2) shortage expected to create undue hardship for some water users (RCW 43.83B.400).The March 14 drought declaration was based on snow pack measurements that indicated there would be less than 75% of normal runoff this year (Department of Ecology Water Resources 2001). The National Weather Service reports that the 2000/2001 winter was the driest since 1976-77, and one of the five driest in the past 100 years (National Weather Service 2001).�
The best general indicators of drought conditions are precipitation and snow pack (National Weather Service 2001). Precipitation during the past 12 months has been 70% of normal in
Western Washington, and 54% of normal in Eastern Washington (National Weather Service 2001). Data collected on the Olympic Peninsula show that the 2001 snow pack is 52% of normal. In the North Puget Sound basins of the Nooksack, Baker, and Skagit, snow packs are also 52% of normal. In the central Puget Sound region, the Tolt basin has 46% of its average snow pack, the Cedar has 65%, and the Snoqualmie has 64% (National Water and Climate Center 2001).
Accepting water-type change requests during the 2001 declared-drought conditions would violate the stated goal of the Forest and Fish Report (FFR) to develop biologically sound forest practice regulations, interpretations, and practices that will improve and protect riparian habitat on non-federal forest lands in the state of Washington (Washington Department of Natural Resources� (WDNR) 1999). WDNR�s acceptance of water-type changes during drought conditions is inconsistent with the Forest Practices Board Manual.� Section 13 of the Washington Forest Practices Board Manual (Board Manual) explicitly acknowledges that drought years may alter how species occupy habitats, and that fish presence/absence surveys �need to recognize how such factors can affect fish distribution in a stream system� (WDNR 2000). Under the �Survey Timing� heading, Section 13 of the Board Manual mandates that survey information must be collected �during the time window when fish species in question are likely to be present. �when water is present in the channel,� identified as the period from March 1 � July 15 (WDNR 2000). The mandated time window for stream typing appropriately acknowledges that the low flows of mid to late summer affect fish distribution within a given system, and implicitly recognizes the potential for similar affects during drought conditions. The same low-water conditions anticipated by the July 15 deadline can be expected to have existed since at least the March 14th drought-emergency declaration (likely from a date preceding the mandated time-window), and from a regulatory perspective must be acknowledged under the declaration, making any pending or accepted water type change requests invalid.
Section B.1 (e)(iii) of the FFR defines perennial waters as those that �do not go dry at any time during a year of normal rainfall� (emphasis added). WAC 222-16-030 defines intermittent streams as those segments of streams that normally go dry (emphasis added).� Given the 2001 season�s abnormally low rainfall and snow pack, it is likely that typically perennial streams will be mistyped as intermittent.� Streams capable of supporting fish during normal years will not receive protections they qualify for if they are incorrectly downgraded during the 2001 declared-drought year.
WAC 222-16-30 identifies Type 3 Waters as having �moderate to slight� fish use. By mandating a seasonal threshold of July 15th, the Board Manual implicitly acknowledges potential fish absence from Type 3 streams during periods of less than mean flow. It is likely � and incumbent on the Department to assume � that streams that typically have slight fish use during normal water conditions could be incorrectly identified as non-fish-bearing at any time during drought conditions. WAC 222-16-30 identifies Type 2 Waters as having �high� fish use.� Type 2 streams could potentially be mis-identified as Type 3 streams because 2001�s abnormally low water may be insufficient to support the required �substantial numbers of fish.�
The data regarding current precipitation and snow pack conditions conclusively demonstrate that 2001 was not a typical water-year; Washington experienced a serious drought.� The official declaration of a drought emergency is a regulatory acknowledgement of these conditions, and places a legal burden on WDNR to recognize the subsequent implications regarding statewide water typing.�
In response to concerns expressed by Washington Trout regarding these issues, WDNR is not accepting water type change requests for the 2001 season until sufficient drought-year protocols can be developed and implemented.�
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