On April 8, 2026, the Department of Ecology declared a statewide emergency drought due to a dismal snowpack, an effect from an abnormally warm winter. These rising temperatures have depleted the snowpack that streams and rivers rely on to maintain consistent levels, temperatures and streamflows.

The declaration marks the fourth consecutive year of drought, both partial and statewide. While drought has not been uncommon in the area in recent years, its severity is intensifying. This is Washington’s fifth emergency drought since 2015. Not only are conditions worsening, but the reasons for the drought are evolving. 

This type of snow drought that the state is currently experiencing has been increasingly popular, as they are caused by low winter snowpack. Washington is currently experiencing a warm snow drought or “wet drought” characterized by high temperatures, causing precipitation to form as rain rather than snow. According to the Department of Ecology, they occurred once every five years on average in the 1990s and now occur about 40% of the time. This figure is expected to reach 70% by 2050.

Snowpack plays a crucial role, acting as a natural reservoir that supports the area’s summer months. Without sufficient snow, streamflow and soil moisture will decline. 

In February 2026, Yakima’s reservoir capacity sat at 132% of average — these reservoirs, at full capacity, only hold 1 million acre-feet of water, not even half of the water needed for the basin over 6 months. 

The snowpack also dwindled to 52% of normal amounts, but the Ecology’s statewide drought lead, Caroline Mellor, says that figure can be misleading, offset “by just a few ‘normal’ basins in the northern Cascade Mountains” and is likely much lower, around 35%. This is the season’s third-lowest amount of snowpack on record. 

Alumnus Wade Nichols, ’25,  spent this winter working at Crystal Mountain and witnessed the rapid decline of snowfall.

“This season had high temperatures and a lot of melt. The flood in December washed out roads and got rid of any early-season snow pack,” Nichols said. “I heard people saying this was the worst or one of the worst seasons in like 20 years. [Long-time Crystal Mountain goers] have recognized a change in patterns. You used to get a couple bad winters, whereas now you get a couple good winters. [This season,] Crystal only opened 49 percent of the terrain.”

Nichols said that the resort, in their opening weeks, used snow cannons to create artificial snow by using compressed air or fans.

“They were making snow almost every day that I was there for the first three weeks. After a bit, they ran out of water in the reservoir because it’s super water-intensive. They were doing it pretty much daily because the snowpack was pretty bad down where people were trying to learn,” Nichols said.

Technology and infrastructure have been forced to adapt to the changes in weather and climate across many sectors in the state to stay afloat. In Walla Walla, local infrastructure attempts to combat changes in precipitation patterns by using ASR, or Aquifer Storage and Recovery.

Lyman Persico, Associate Professor of Geology and Environmental Studies, explained the process in an interview with The Wire.

“The idea is that when the water in the rivers is flowing at a high level, and you can’t use the water, you take groundwater wells, and you pump them in reverse,” Persico said. “You pump water down into the soil, into the groundwater, that then you can recover and pull back out when it’s time [to use it].” 

Persico says the system was originally developed in Colorado for gold mining. Now, Washington state uses it for agricultural practices. 

Not only are water infrastructure methods changing to ensure crops have an adequate supply of water, but the crops themselves are changing. With increased research in the field, farmers are being advised to swap out, selectively breed or genetically modify their crops to combat changing conditions.

Senior Environmental Science and Biology major Jackson Schroeder focused on this topic for his thesis. Schroeder’s research collected data on drought-resistant wheat, examining how wheat performs under heat and drought, to inform breeding programs. Shroeder described the intention and relevance of his research, highlighting fluctuations in temperature and precipitation as key factors. 

“Ideally, it should help wheat breeders breed heat and drought-tolerant wheat. And that’s very important because wheat is around one-fifth of our calories. […] Research like this is essential to finding out how crops respond [to] create resilient varieties,” Schroeder said. “It is important to be developing new, diverse varieties to choose from, sitting in seed banks, so that if the conditions change, [farmers could] try from another variety that we have.”

The drought has triggered far-reaching effects, ranging from agricultural issues to stream and fish health to recreation. In addition to the drought, the Climate Prediction Center warns that from May-July 2026, El Niño is likely to emerge with a 61% chance and persist through at least the end of the year. These combined conditions and their environmental stress leave Washingtonians in store for a particularly arid and potentially smoky summer, as the risk of wildfires also increases.