Outdoor water restrictions ordered

Just the simple act of watering in the cool of the evening makes every drop count. Lake Country Mayor James Baker

As scorching weather hangs on and drought conditions persist, Lake Country is restricting outdoor watering to two days a week.

Letters from the district are on their way to agricultural properties and irrigation customers outlining the new rules.

Owners with crops using water from Beaver Creek will only be allowed to irrigate when absolutely necessary.

It’s important residential and commercial property water users restrict their use of lawn and landscaping sprinkling so there’s enough water for agricultural irrigation and fire protection, according to the municipality.

“It’s been quite a year for water impacts from natural disasters (flooding in the spring) and hot weather,” said Mayor James Baker.

“The Okanagan has been at drought level two since the third week of August and Lake Country participates in the Make Water Work program co-ordinated by the Okanagan Basin Water Board to encourage all residents to make wise use of our water resources and conserve as much as possible. Just the simple act of watering in the cool of the evening makes every drop count.”

On Friday, the B.C. Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development also got in on the act.

The province announced the drought rating in the Okanagan watershed had worsened from level two to level three on the scale of one to four with one being normal and four being beyond dry.

As such, the province is asking Okanagan residents to voluntarily reduce water use by 30 per cent.

That means limiting outdoor watering and certainly not watering during the heat of the day or when it’s windy.

It could even mean taking shorter showers.

And as a longer-term solution, the province asks residents to consider planting drought-tolerant vegetation and installing water-efficient showerheads, taps and toilets.

On the farm, that means implementing irrigation scheduling using real-time weather data, checking for leaks and longer-term, focusing on high-value crops and livestock that requires less water.

It’s suggested industry reduce all non-essential water use, recycle the water it does use and utilize more water-efficient methods and equipment.

In the Okanagan, many creeks and lakes continue to have adequate flow.

However, those that have low flow are a concern because adult kokanee salmon will soon be returning from lakes to streams to spawn and they need good water levels to do so.

If voluntary reductions don’t work, the province will consider restrictions under the Water Sustainability Act.

The act is aimed mostly at commercial, industrial and agricultural water users.

Additional restrictions for residential users would have to come from local irrigation districts and municipalities.

Meantime, the drought level rating in the Similkameen, Nicola and Salmon River watersheds has been increased to dangerous four.

For now, all water users in those regions are also being asked to voluntarily conserve to help ease the situation.

Level four also means some creek and river flows are so low it poses a risk to Chinook salmon.