Peachland farmers miffed over proposed watering ban
Town says 2-week ban on irrigation necessary to allow repairs to water system damaged by spring floods
Peachland farmers could be banned from watering their fields for a two-week period in October when town staff repair the flooddamaged municipal water intake system.
Although most crops have already been harvested, it’s still a common agricultural practice for farmers to irrigate their land well into the fall.
“We took the cherries off in August, but we normally still water until about the end of October to maintain the moisture in the ground,” Clive Sutherland, owner of a 12-hectare cherry farm in Peachland, said Monday.
“This (proposed ban) isn’t an ideal situation for us,” Sutherland said. “It’ll probably be OK, but you’d think the town would at least have told us this is what they’re thinking of doing.”
Farmers water even after the fruit comes off as a way of keeping the tree healthy and sealing moisture into the ground, in the event that next spring is unusually dry, said Fred Steele, president of the BC Fruit Growers’ Association.
“This complete water restriction, with no irrigation at all, could impact the way some orchardists run their farms,” Steele said.
Town staff say the proposed irrigation ban, which is accompanied by a prohibition against any lawn or garden watering in all residential areas, is necessary to fix damaged water-system infrastructure.
Flooding this spring caused a large amount of debris to pile up at the entrance to water intake ponds on Deep Creek and Trepanier Creek. The debris can only be removed when the Ministry of Environment says the risk to fish populations is at its lowest.
While the work is being done, at an estimated cost of $250,000 during an as-yet-unspecified period in October, water flows must be kept at a minimum, town operations director Joe Mitchell says.
“To ensure adequate water supply during this period, residents and agricultural users will be required to restrict water use to essential indoor use only,” Mitchell writes in a report to be considered today by council. “There will be no outdoor water use permitted during this period.”
Farmers may be more likely to irrigate this fall because it’s been such a dry summer, says Glen Lucas, general manager of the BCFGA. Only 10 millimetres of rain fell in the Central Okanagan between June 1 and Monday, far below normal.
“Because it’s been so dry, farmers may be counting on heavy, soaking rains in the fall to put moisture into the ground and really soak the trees’ roots,” Lucas said.
But beyond the chance of less than two millimetres of rain today and Wednesday, the 15-day forecast for the Central Okanagan indicates no precipitation until at least Oct. 2.