Wrung Dry

Wet weather is such an inescapable part of life in the Pacific Northwest that the Seattle tourism industry touts it as "liquid sunshine." This year, though, the slogan will have to be shelved in the face of the worst regionwide drought in decades. Along with other legendarily soaked cities like Portland, Ore., and Vancouver, B.C., Seattle has imposed water restrictions, urging citizens to take shorter showers and banning the use of lawn sprinklers. The lush, green vegetation has begun to turn brown. Mule deer does are having trouble finding enough food in the woods to produce milk for their fawns. The spring chinook salmon run on Oregon's Rogue River had the largest die-off level in 15 years, attributed in part to low water levels. The situation is worst in Oregon, whose drought is expected to be the most severe in 120 years.

Some smaller cities and towns in the region are less affected because they get their water from wells. The big cities get theirs, though, from snow melting off the Cascade Range to the east. Not only was precipitation less than normal last winter, but temperatures were warmer. Much of the snow fell as rain and ran off right away, at a time when city reservoirs were full anyway.