B.C. drought recovery will take time, even with rain in the forecast, forecasters say

Unusually warm temperatures and a surprisingly dry September and October have been guilty pleasures for some British Columbians in recent months.

While being able to enjoy sunshine and not having to carry a raincoat or umbrella for the first few weeks of fall is a nice change of pace, a lack of precipitation that’s drying up creeks, streams and lakes is a real cause for concern.

“It’s extremely rare,” David Campbell, the head of the B.C. River Forecast Centre, said in an interview.

“We’re seeing, in some areas, historic low stream flows — the type of thing we’ve never experienced before.”

According to Emergency Info B.C., the following regions are experiencing severe drought and are now at Level 5, the province’s highest drought response level:

• North, South and East Peace.
• Fort Nelson.
• Lower Mainland.
• Sunshine Coast.
• East and West Vancouver Island.

State of emergency on the Sunshine Coast

Drought conditions on the Sunshine Coast prompted the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD), the District of Sechelt and the shíshálh Nation to declare local states of emergency and ban large non-essential commercial uses of water Tuesday.

As of 11:59 p.m. PT Tuesday, breweries, cideries, distilleries, water bottlers, non-medical cannabis growers, people with swimming pools and hot tubs as well as businesses that work with concrete and cement products are all under order to stop using treated drinking water.

The order applies to businesses using water from the Chapman Water System, as the district says the reservoir only has enough water to last until early November, depending on how much water the community uses and how much rain falls in the coming weeks.

“We’re seeing the effects of climate change happen in a very real and tangible way on the Sunshine Coast here,” said Clinton McDougall, co-owner of Sunday Cider in Gibsons.

McDougall now has to pause production, and he says his business will be going into “survival mode” for the next month, selling off the inventory he has in stock.

“Everything will slow down, in hopes we can ride this out,” he said.

Remko Rosenboom, the SCRD’s general manager of infrastructure services and director of its emergency operations centre, says the district had no choice but to prioritize the water supply for essential use only and to make sure the Sechelt Hospital and the region’s fire protection service have what they need.

“We’ve never had to implement restrictions like this before,” said Rosenboom, adding that the district has been working for years to develop more water sources.

He said last year the region got to drought Level 4, but saw plenty of rain roll in by mid-September.

“There is rain in the forecast,” he said. “But we need about 100, 150 millimetres before I can say confidently that we’ll be out of this situation.”

Back at the River Forecast Centre, David Campbell said drought conditions throughout B.C. are having an impact on both people and the environment.

For those who have to limit the amount of water they’re using on a daily basis there are socioeconomic consequences, but Campbell said people are also losing ecological benefits, such as improvements in air quality provided by rainfall.

He added that there’s a negative impact on fish and other aquatic species as well, because they’re no longer able to swim through certain creeks and rivers that have started to dry up.

Environment Canada is predicting rain in Metro Vancouver, on Vancouver Island and on the Sunshine Coast on Friday, a change in pattern that Campbell hopes will help shift weather conditions back to normal.

“It’s going to take some time,” he said. “We probably need to have a few hundred millimetres of rain to get ourselves back to reset.”