Less irrigation water for some Yakima Valley farmers, wildfire season approaches

The Roza Irrigation District is shutting down its water starting on Tuesday. The shutdown could last for nearly two weeks depending on temperatures. 

The district, located in the Yakima Valley, is trying to save water for hotter months. The Roza Irrigation District is about 72,000 acres in size, running from Prosser up to east Selah.

“It’s hard on our staff to shut the canal down, but they are looking at it as a way to provide additional water throughout the season,” said Sage Park, the irrigation district’s policy director. “Making sure those hot days have a little extra water.” 

A lack of snowpack and rain means junior water right holders will be the first to feel the pain. Now, some Yakima Valley irrigators will only get 48% of their normal water this year. This is the third consecutive year of major drought in the area. Farmers are already dealing with high costs and depressed prices. 

“Talking to one of our growers in particular, I know that he’s making really difficult decisions, and tearing out a bunch of apples, and then trying to figure out how to deal with the drought on top of that — it’s been really stressful,” Park said.

Chum salmon swim near Hoodsport, Washington. (Courtesy: Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife)

Rain, snowpack and river flows

Already, Washington state has declared some areas in drought. There’s not enough snowpack in many areas, and much of it is melting out faster than expected. Usually, May does see some snowmelt. But this year, some areas of snow are melting out two weeks to more than a month earlier than normal. That’s according to Caroline Mellor, the Washington State Department of Ecology’s statewide drought lead. 

“There’s the possibility that based on these conditions, and with our state’s drought declaration process, that we may expand the existing drought emergency declaration for additional areas in the state,” she said. 

That process triggers emergency relief tools for entities including: tribes, local governments, cities and irrigation districts. The state provides things like funding or temporary permits to transfer water.

“These are becoming more common patterns in Washington,” Mellor said. “Having seen this occur multiple years in a row now really highlights for folks that we should be thinking of these patterns as part of our regular way of life here in Washington, and not just a one off.”  

Mellor said climate change are likely exasperating dry conditions throughout the state.

She also expects river flows to be lower than normal this year. When there’s less water, that water heats up faster. That can impact salmon and other fish that thrive under cold water temperatures. 

“We’ve had multiple years of poor snowpack, or snowpack melting off too quickly,” Mellor said. “Then, that water runs off to the ocean earlier in the summer. Then less is available in streams and rivers come summer and early fall when it’s needed for farms and fish.”

Mellor says cumulative impacts are stacking up. And the less overall water in the system, the bigger the problems for fish.

“If you have less water in your tea kettle, your tea would be ready sooner,” Mellor explained. “So this also applies to how water in the river warms up. If you have lower flows in rivers, that means the temperatures in rivers are going to be higher sooner. One thing we know about salmon is that salmon like cold water. They don’t like warm water.”  

Washington State Department of Natural Resources firefighters start ignitions on a prescribed fire near Glenwood, Washington. (Courtesy: Washington State Department of Natural Resources)

Wildfire danger and smoke

Drought conditions in some parts of Washington state are stressing out forests. This isn’t new — in ‘23 there were 12 watersheds declared to be in drought, and ‘24 the entire state except Everett, Seattle and Tacoma, were declared in drought, according to Mellor. And experts say that means this year’s fire season could be rough.

“It needs to rain,” Matt Dehr, a meteorologist focused on wildland fire with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, said during a recent meeting. “And it needs to rain right now.”

Recent rains across much of Washington have helped, he said, but he still expects drying forests later this season and a hotter summer. 

Still, Dehr says much of fire season is hard to predict:

“We have to start thinking of ‘Hey, are we able to limit human-caused ignitions, do we not get any lighting storms or do we get a ton of lightning storms?’” he said.

And a lot depends on July Fourth fireworks and the weather, Dehr said. Big wildland fires, like the Pioneer fire in Chelan County in 2024, could spring up. But small acreage fires in dense housing districts could be highly destructive too.

East wind events, where really dry stable air is pushed from eastern Washington over the Cascades into western Washington, could also be a problem. 

“East wind days are some of the hottest days of the summer,” Dehr said. “Along with the winds that are 30, 40 and on Labor Day 2020, 60 miles an hour. It doesn’t happen every year during the fire season. But when they do happen and they coincide with dry fuels, that is one of the top concerns for western Washington.”

Dehr also said the state department of natural resources is working to take a larger lead in tracking wildlife smoke. The department has hired three new positions from last year to support smoke preparedness, forecasting and response.