Water Use & Conservation

“A Water Conservation Strategy for British Columbia” was developed by a working group chaired by Prad Khare. The Strategy will contribute to a sustained and healthy resource and provide a common framework for water management activities throughout the province by advancing water as a valuable resource which must be utilized efficiently, wisely and cost-effectively to sustain a high quality of social, environmental and economic well-being, for now and in the future.

In 1992, co-authored papers by Tom Heath and Kim Stephens and by Ted van der Gulik (left) and Kim Stephens, respectively, were published as an integrated magazine article. “Although there is a perception that BC is water-rich, the reality is that we are often seasonally water-short (mainly because of storage limitations) during the period when water demand is heaviest due to lawn and garden irrigation,” wrote the authors in their opening paragraph.

As creeks and wells were running dry in mid-July, some B.C. farmers were trucking water to feed livestock, while others were reducing the size of their herds and anticipating crop loss. Four B.C. regions, including the northeast, Bulkley Lakes, and east and west Vancouver Island were at drought Level 5, with much of the rest of the province at Level 4. Drought Level 5 means it is “almost certain” an area will see adverse effects on communities and ecosystems. “B.C. farmers are among the first to feel the impact,” stated Kevin Boon.

“Despite continued population growth and climate change, Metro Vancouver Water District has taken only baby steps toward expanding its storage and supply capacity. For the past two decades, its directors — councillors and mayors appointed by their various councils — have had conservation as the primary strategy. Up until now, cutting per-capita usage has worked well enough. Crunch time may finally have arrived. We’re going to need more than magical thinking to deal with regional water supplies,” wrote Daphne Bramham.

“A long career provides perspective. In my five decades as water resource planner and engineer, there are three years that really stand out in British Columbia when the topic is water conservation. After what in respect was a benign half-century, 1987 was BC’s first wake up call. The drought was unprecedented in living memory. But it was 2003 that truly was what we call ‘the teachable year.’ This really got the attention of British Columbians that the climate was indeed changing. In 2015, the West Coast of North America crossed an invisible threshold into a different hydro-meteorological regime. And it has happened faster than anyone expected,” stated Kim Stephens.

Climate change has aggravated an existing vulnerability related to seasonal supply of water in BC. “If we’d go to some good conservation measures, we wouldn’t have to worry for the next 15 or 20 years about summer water supplies, But we’re a very slow starter — everybody thinks we have enough water. It’s not a technical problem, it’s a social problem. You’ve got variability every year, and all of a sudden it dropped about 20 per cent. This means we need to be far more conscientious about summer water use,” stated Hans Schreier.

As Metro Vancouver headed into Day 43 of drought, officials asked residents to keep the six-week-long lack of precipitation in mind when they think about watering their lawn or washing their car. “We’re keeping a close eye on things. We need people to be really mindful about how they are using the water that is available. We’re certainly not in a position where we’ve got surplus water and people can do whatever they want,” stated Marilyn Towill, Metro Vancouver General Manager of Water Services.

“Climate change has aggravated an existing vulnerability related to seasonal supply of water in BC. Over time, the safety factor has been shrinking. While it rains a lot in BC, we do not have an abundance of supply when demand is greatest. In addition, the mountainous nature of BC’s geography means that BC communities are typically storage-constrained, and what storage they do have is measured in weeks to months. As of 2015, we clearly crossed an invisible threshold into a different hydrometeorological regime in Western North America,” stated Kim Stephens.

“The power of the BC Landscape Water Calculator is that it is linked to a provincial 500 metre gridded climate dataset that was built for the Agricultural Water Demand Model. This is what establishes the allowable water budget for each and every property in British Columbia. The allowable water budget is a real number. It is based on average climate data for the period 2000 through 2010 for the active growing season. This establishes a location-specific performance target for landscape design. Users then test various combinations of plant types and irrigation systems to determine their total landscape water need,” stated Ted van der Gulik.

“Going back to the mid-2000s, the Province recognized the need to encourage better water conservation by water users and water purveyors in BC. The question was – what policy levers were available to help make that change, and what would incentivize it? And so, the Ministry found an opportunity to align provincial grant programs with water conservation targets. The Ministry defined the Water Conservation Condition as the contractual mechanism of choice. It is written into all contracts for infrastructure grants as a requirement,” stated Brian Bedford.

“Drought severity in B.C. has previously been communicated through four ‘drought levels’. These categories are broad. Desired outcomes in going to a 6-level system include better understanding of current conditions, advance warning of extreme drought, and better alignment with other jurisdictions in North America. A new ‘severely dry’ level would signify a severe state of drought, and a new ‘exceptionally dry’ level would be used to identify drought conditions that are at or near historical lows,” stated Julia Berardinucci.

“If the March 2022 deadline passes and thousands of (historical) groundwater users fail to apply, there could be big trouble ahead for the government and groundwater users alike. If existing historical users—some of whom can trace their use of specific water wells back generations—fail to apply before the deadline, they will find themselves in the same queue along with new entrants, creating a regulatory nightmare for the government and water users alike. Barring a massive surge in applications thousands of groundwater users could risk losing their access to water in less than a year,” wrote Ben Parfitt.