OLYMPIA - Grant County farmers and irrigators who rely on Columbia River water for their crops will receive help from state regulators.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife issued an emergency declaration designed to help farmers maintain or re-establish access to water from the lowered river.

WDFW Deputy Director Jeff Davis said the declaration was necessary to prevent damage to water-dependent crops.

The declaration will enable the department's field staff to quickly issue Hydraulic Project Approval permits that are required for work that diverts flow of state waters.

"Our primary goals are to help get irrigations diversions quickly reconnected to the water, and to make sure those diversions are screened to prevent the loss of fish stock," Davis stated in a release.

WDFW field staff were in Central Washington last weekend, meeting with farmers to address problems that arose from the 26-foot drawdown of the Wanapum Reservoir.

Grant County PUD engineers are working on a plan to extend or alter the fish ladder at the Wanapum Dam, which is currently ineffective at the lowered water levels. Engineers have until early to mid-April to fix it before the spring Chinook salmon will be migrating past the reservoir.