Water Supply Update
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
The state remains in a declared drought, but the recent rains on the west side of the Cascades have saturated the ground, filled reservoirs and generally reset the water supplies to normal conditions.
Heavy rains in late October and early November led Seattle Public Utilities to declare that water supply conditions were getting back to normal. Since that time, there's been an overall shift in the weather pattern and the typical wet, cold November weather has returned.
The recent weather has provided enough rain to return the Seattle area water system back to within typical ranges. The Cedar River reservoir, which provides two-thirds of Seattle's drinking water, is full and in flood-management mode. Water levels in the reservoir at the South Fork Tolt River are rising and expected to reach flood-management target elevations soon.
Seattle Public Utilities is closely monitoring the strong El Nino weather pattern, which could bring warmer weather than normal as well as a below-normal snowpack in 2016, performing regular forecasts of water supply conditions and making operational adjustments to manage the water systems throughout the winter and into the spring.
Seattle operates a regional water supply system serving 1.3 million people, including Highline Water District customers as well as other cities and water districts in King County.
We thank our customers for helping the region stretch its water supplies to meet the needs of people and fish in this unprecedented year.
