Vancouver Sun publishes 10-part series on “Water: Life blood of BC” – part 4 is about planning for growth and climate change in the Metro Vancouver region

September 19, 2015 - Posted in Contextual Resources, State of Water in British Columbia

Note to Reader:

Climate change threatens to make this summer’s drought look minor. In September 2015, the Vancouver Sun newspaper is publishing a 10-part series of articles about “Water: Life blood of BC”. The series theme is how BC uses water and what the future has in store for our waterways. Published on September 16, the fourth installment is about planning for growth in Metro Vancouver.

‘We can learn from 2015’

In the fourth installment, writer Kelly Sinoski explains how Metro Vancouver meets the water need of the region from three lake sources and how the regional water utility is already preparing to accommodate another million people and a changing climate. The article quotes Bob Cavill, Metro Vancouver’s watershed manager, as follows regarding the drought that the South Coast experienced in 2015:

“We can learn from this year,” Cavill warned. “It might be a forerunner of what we see in the future. We need to pay attention and learn from it.”

“What we’re doing is getting ready to add another million more people here in the next 30 years.”

Metro Vancouver moved to Stage 3 water restrictions when high use plus drought depleted reservoir storage

On July 20, 2015 Metro Vancouver moved to Stage 3 water restrictions – for the first time since 2003 – banning all lawn sprinkling with treated drinking water and bringing in a number of other water conservation measures.

“We need to reduce our discretionary use of water including lawn sprinkling and washing cars,” said Board Chair Greg Moore at the time of the announcement. “Our reservoir levels need to be maintained for priority needs in our homes and businesses, and for community needs like fire protection.”

“We are seeing record temperatures and there was virtually no rain in June when normally we have rain on about 12 days,” added Moore. “We all have to do our part and conserve water whenever possible, and that now includes only watering lawns once a week.”

Metro Vancouver Rolls Back Water Restrictions: After a summer of brown lawns and dusty cars, a period of heavy rain allowed Metro Vancouver to downgrade its water restrictions from Stage 3 to 2 on September 10, 2015. That meant residents could water their lawn once a week and wash their car with a spring-loaded nozzle.

To Learn More:

To read the fourth installment in the 10-part series, click on Planning for growth in Metro Vancouver’s demand for water