It's starting to sound like a cloak-and-dagger mystery, but it's deadly serious. If you thought we had it bad in Tri-Cities, up the Lower Valley, it's getting worse.
The record heat wave in the Columbia Basin is not helping the Kennewick Irrigation District or other water suppliers, new limitations have been placed on water use.
As if it wasn't bad enough facing mandatory watering schedules, potential shortages for growers and other water related issues, now a common weather pattern could make the 2015 drought even tougher.
The Kennewick Irrigation District (KID) announced Tuesday the implementation of a mandatory watering schedule effective at the end of the month, due to drought conditions.
A few weeks ago state and federal officials estimated many irrigation districts would receive anywhere from 70-78 percent of their normal water allocations for 2015. Now, those numbers have dropped again.
We won't really know the full impact of this year's projected drought until the weather warms up more, but we could potentially be in for a very dry summer.
You've all heard about the diminished snowfall in the Cascades this year, and how some irrigation districts are only receiving 73% of their normal amounts of water. Well, now add some new restrictions.