Washington Water Watch: April 2019

Dear friends of CELP,  It’s been a while  since our last Washington Water Watch and CELP has been busy working to protect and restore Washington’s waters. This year is shaping up to be a critical year for water in Washington, as the Department of Ecology just declared a drought in  three  watersheds: The Upper Yakima, Okanogan, and Methow. This could be bad news for fish and our population of Resident Orca’s.

March was unprecedentedly dry, and it is likely to only get worse from here. The coming months are forecast to be warmer and drier than normal, putting more and more areas around the state at risk. The warmer the summers get with Climate Change; the more frequently droughts are likely to occur. The only way we can proactively combat this is to start planning now and encourage the state to prioritize sound sustainable water policy. All this makes CELP’s work more critical than ever, but our work would not be possible without supporters like you. We rely on our generous donations from our members and supporters to hold our lawmakers and agencies accountable for protecting Washington’s rivers and streams. Renew your membership today on our secure website.

In this issue you will find information about this year’s Celebrate Waters and GiveBIG campaign, CELP’s newest staff members, an upcoming Ethics Conference, a recap of CELP’s first ever Lobby Day as well as Winter Waters, a legislative wrap up and more.

Sincerely,

Trish Rolfe

Executive Director

trolfe@celp.org