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Department of Ecology News Release - March 15, 2005
05-057
OLYMPIA - Thanks to the drought, Eastern Washington is more likely to experience dust storms this year and the season may start about a month earlier than usual.
Spring through fall is the season for dust storms in Eastern Washington, when the sky darkens and the air is gritty with dirt particles from dry farming areas, construction sites and unpaved roads.
Dust storms can occur in sustained winds above 18 miles per hour. Under vulnerable conditions like the state is facing now, they may occur at even lower wind speeds.
Dust storms stir up tiny particles that can irritate or damage sensitive lung tissues. People with respiratory illnesses, the elderly, young children, pregnant women and anyone engaged in strenuous physical activity outdoors are most at risk.
Most of the blowing dust from agriculture comes from summer fallow (land that is not planted) or newly-planted winter wheat fields that lack sufficient surface residue and soil clods, according to Washington State University research agronomist Bill Schillinger, who works at the Dryland Research Station near Lind in Adams County.
Schillinger said farmers can reduce dust storms by reducing the amount of tillage done on the fields and using tillage tools that leave crop stubble on the ground and an uneven surface to slow the wind. Non-farm residents can help reduce airborne dust by driving slower on unpaved roads and by postponing dusty projects around the house and yard until a less windy time.
Dust control is required for all construction projects. Control measures include clearing no more land than necessary, working in phases to minimize the amount of exposed land area, using a commercial dust suppressant to replace or reduce the use of water, covering bare ground with gravel and curtailing activities on windy days.
More information about preventing dust storms is available online at www.ecy.wa.gov (search on "dust"). Real-time air-quality data are available online for most counties at https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/enviwa/. For residents of Spokane County, air-quality data also are available at www.SCAPCA.org.
Warm temperatures and dry conditions in February reduced mountain snow pack in Washington to only 26 percent of normal by March 1. At least 37 locations measured new record-low snow levels, including Stampede Pass, which set a 58-year low with only 5.1 inches of water contained in the snow pack. The previous March 1 record low at the pass had been 11.1 inches, set in 1977, the year of the worst-recorded drought in Washington.
Low snow pack has led to record-low runoff predictions for 26 stream-gauge sites in Washington. Stream flows have fluctuated widely over the last several months, rising with the occasional storm and then dropping dramatically afterward.
Stream flows are currently between 22 and 90 percent of average, with the highest flows occurring along the Canadian border in northeast Washington. Stream flows in the Columbia-Snake river basin are anticipated to be only 30 to 60 percent of average this year, with discharge at the Dalles Dam predicted to be only 60.6 million acre-feet of water from April through September, the third-lowest level on record and only 63 percent of average.
March 1 stream-flow forecasts for other rivers include the Chelan River, 48 percent; Cowlitz River, 54 percent; Okanogan River, 44 percent; Skagit River, 55 percent; Wenatchee River, 50 percent; and Yakima River, 48 percent.
The Department of Ecology has received nine requests from water users in the Yakima River basin to drill emergency wells. The department, in partnership with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and Yakama Indian Nation, will conduct a public workshop in Yakima later this month to address how emergency-well applications in the basin will be processed.
Ecology also is offering to lease irrigation water from senior water-right holders in the Yakima basin so junior water-right holders facing cutoff this year will still have water for drinking, flushing toilets and other domestic uses.
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Media contact on dust storms: Glenn Kuper, public information manager, 360-407-6848
Media contact on drought: Curt Hart, public information manager, 360-407-7139
Drought Web site: http://www.ecy.wa.gov (Under "Features," click on "2005 drought")
Dust information: www.ecy.wa.gov (search "Dust")
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
