By Lynda V. Mapes, Seattle Times

Washington has endured its fourth driest March and April since 1895 — and is heading into a drier and warmer than average summer, forecasts show.

Statewide, Washington got only about half the normal precipitation in March and April, and the forecast for summer includes more of the same, said Karin Bumbaco, assistant state climatologist at the University of Washington.

The freakishly dry weather, in months that usually are wringing wet, has set up a feast-and-famine situation for moisture in Washington. Basins that depend primarily on snowpack for moisture are fat at about 130% of average statewide.

That means there will not be water supply issues in Seattle, Tacoma or Everett. Irrigators also should be fine for the season.

But it’s a different story in lower elevation basins that rely primarily on rain and groundwater for water supply.

The Chehalis Basin, which depends on rain and groundwater, is forecast to endure the lowest stream flows in 72 years, said Jeff Marti, water resources planner for the state Department of Ecology.

The Snake River Basin, home to some of the region’s most endangered salmon, is forecast to see 30 to 40% less streamflow than normal this season, according to the Northwest River Forecast Center.

Dam operators are managing water to help juvenile salmon make it to the sea, with both the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation sending water over spillways rather than running it through generators on both the Columbia and the Snake.