The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WAITSBURG – At the close of nearly every winter, Waitsburg residents surmise about the likelihood of a high-water event like the Food of 1996. With a high snowpack and anticipated warming temperatures, this year is no different.

Statistics can be frightening. Washington’s snowpack contains 30 million-acre feet of water, which is nearly the amount of water stored behind Grand Coulee Dam. Eight million of that was gained between Feb. 5 and 20, during record snowfalls, according to the Department of Ecology (DOE). That said, the state’s snowpack was still only 91 percent of normal at that date, a...