Northwest Droughts are routine

From the University of Washington a study finds that over long time periods big multi-year droughts in the Northwest are not at all unusual.

"'The big lesson is that prolonged low flow years are a normal part of the Columbia Basin's history,' Mantua says. 'The problem is that water in most sub-basins is fully allocated. These demands have gone a long way to eliminating flexibility and buffers needed in the face of drought caused water-supply shortages.'"

As if the current water rights squabbling wasn't already bad enough. With the prospect of long droughts it is going to become an even bigger mess.