YAKIMA, Wash. – The Bureau of Reclamation’s March 2026 total water supply available forecast for the Yakima basin indicates the water supply will not fully meet irrigation demands this season. The early estimate of the total water supply available for the April-September period indicates senior water rights will receive 100% full entitlements and junior water rights will receive 44% of their full entitlements.
Storage in the Yakima basin reservoirs on March 1 was 76% full with 806,000 acre-feet, which is 128% of average. Precipitation for February was 51% of average and for October–February was 107% of average. On March 1, the amount of water in the snowpack, known as snow water equivalent, was 33% of average.
Reclamation manages the water in the five Yakima Project storage reservoirs, along with the basin’s unregulated inflows, to fulfill water rights, water contracts and instream flow obligations. Water shortages in the basin are shared equally by the junior water rights, which represent over half of the water rights in the basin.
Reclamation will provide an updated water supply forecast monthly—at least through July—using the latest data each month to reflect changing conditions as they develop.
The March forecast is based on flows, precipitation, snowpack, and reservoir storage as of March 1, along with estimates of future precipitation and river flows. Other future weather conditions that determine the timing of the runoff and the demand for water also are critical in determining stream flows, the extent to which the reservoirs fill, and the water supply for irrigation.
For more information, visit Reclamation’s website at https://www.usbr.gov/pn/hydromet/yakima/.
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