Studying Water

I've been thinking ahead to the next session, and it's time to choose a topic to deliver a five-minute speech, which might be used to develop our policy working groups. There are certainly many issues to choose from, and since I'm no expert, it's time to study up.

I spent most of the day reading up on water issues in Washington state, and there are some sobering statistics to ponder. The last decade has been a dry cycle: lower than average snowpack in the winter months, numerous wildfires and alarmingly shrinking aquifers spell dry times ahead.

53 North Cascade glaciers have completely disappeared since the 1950s, and many of the remaining glaciers have lost between 18 and 32% of their volume since 1983. Most of the North Cascade glaciers are in places so remote that few are aware of them, however, these icy natural reservoirs contain nearly 30% of our region's total water supply, releasing 230 billion gallons of water during the summer months!

What do these numbers mean? Paired with the record growth that we've been seeing here locally, there may well be a time when there isn't enough water to meet all demands. Currently, there are 7,087 water rights on file with the state, excluding reservoirs and power. These water rights represent an existing demand of over eight million acre feet.

Water rights in Washington state are based on the doctrine of prior appropriation. In other words, the first person in line has priority over all others who come later. During water shortages, senior water rights holders have the right, under existing law, to take their full water allotment—even if this leaves junior water rights holders without water.

Water is sacred here in the arid west, and people have come to blows over it in the past century. If projections for the glaciers are accurate, we may be in a world of trouble—a world without water.