Though clouds again linger over much of the Columbia Basin and
Northwest, most participants in a Tuesday drought workshop agreed that
the region will have to play with the hand dealt by Mother Nature during
a dry fall and winter of 2000-2001.

It would take 225 percent of normal precipitation between now and July
to get the region back on track toward a “normal” water year, according
to Harold Opitz, hydrologist in charge of the Northwest River Forecast
Center.