Authorities in the state that produces nearly 70 percent of U.S. apples for fresh consumption and loads of other foodstuffs have declared “drought emergencies” in 24 of its 62 watersheds—or 44 percent of the state’s area.

The Washington state Department of Ecology reports:

Snowpack statewide has declined to 24 percent of normal, worse than when the last statewide drought was declared in 2005. Snowpack is like a frozen reservoir for river basins, in a typical year accumulating over the winter and slowly melting through the spring and summer providing a water supply for rivers and streams. This year run-off from snowmelt for the period April through September is projected to be the lowest on record in the past 64 years.

Read more here.

h/t Tom Philpott at Mother Jones

— Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.