Just as the water supply drops in the summer, demand skyrockets, by up to 50 per cent, as people try to keep their lawns lush and their gardens green.
Delta, along with the rest of Metro Vancouver, is currently at Stage 1 water restrictions, where residents are allowed to water their lawns only one day a week.
Although water levels in the Capilano, Seymour and Coquitlam reservoirs currently are within the normal range, much of the province is drying up.
Drought is deepening because of lower levels of rain and snow in the past year, with most water basins in B.C. now at Level 4, the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness said on Monday.
Delta farmer Brent Kelly said that so far in the Boundary Bay area, irrigation water has been good but the Fraser River is running low. As well, salt water is now creeping upstream farther west, whereas that doesn’t usually happen until later in the summer.
So far, his potato and cranberry crops seem OK, although the late planting of potatoes hasn’t yet grown a leaf canopy, adding that if they have enough irrigation water till the end of July they’ll probably be all right.
But he noted that since May 6, his farm has received only about 20 mm of rain, whereas it usually gets about 100 mm from then, until now. “That’s really, really unusual.”
Still, while last fall was dry, Kelly says the snow pack in the mountains was only about 10 per cent below average, although it melted quickly with the warm spring.
He doubted that any orders to reduce water use by agricultural users would apply here, saying that’s more likely in the Interior.
According to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Canadian Drought Monitor, the Lower Mainland area is now classified as being under severe drought conditions.
Warm temperatures in June led to an “extremely early snowmelt and freshet across the Pacific Region, resulting in abnormally low stream flows for this time of year,” said the drought monitor.
Meanwhile, Metro Vancouver regional parks are currently under a high fire danger rating, as is all of the City of Delta, although that’s likely to change.
Conditions are trending towards an extreme fire danger rating in the next few days, Delta Fire and Emergency Services Dep. Chief Dave Wood said Wednesday.
“That’s where we’re predicted to go. We’re trending in that direction. We still have no significant rain in the forecast.”
He just wants people not to throw away their cigarette butts. He added that wildfires in Alberta this spring have raised the public’s awareness. “It put a huge awareness on where we’re at in our country now with wildfire issues.”
Under Metro Vancouver’s Drinking Water Conservation Plan, there are four stages for water use. Stage 2 bans any watering of lawns, although washing cars is allowed. Stage 3 restricts watering trees and shrubs and washing down impermeable surfaces while Stage 4 bans watering lawns and trees, washing cars, and filling up swimming pools.
• Delta offers residents options to respond to water shortages. Its water meter program allows homeowners to be billed for their water based on how much they actually use instead of a flat rate.
• The city also offers rain barrels at a cost of $70. The barrels are flat on one side so they fit snugly against the side of a house and holds 341 litres of water for lawn watering or car washing. It can fill up with only one day of rain.
