"Climate Change Is Darkening Seattle’s Water Forecast"

"One of the country’s fastest-growing cities suddenly has a long-term water problem."

"The weather was uncharacteristically drizzly for late summer when Seattle Public Utilities tour guide Ralph Naess, tooling along a backroad in the city-protected Cedar River watershed, suddenly looked skyward with alarm at a sudden sunbreak.

'Hey — the sun is coming out. Bad news!' Naess exclaimed. Turning to visitors, he explained: 'We would much prefer a dousing rain for a month.'

It’s not unusual for the folks at SPU who are responsible for making sure Seattleites have drinking water to get nervous at this time of year. Even in a typical year, officials carefully watch the weather and the calendar as the water level of the Chester Morse Reservoir recedes. It’s their annual waiting game: When will the fall rains return?"

Robert McClure reports for InvestigateWest September 9, 2015.