STATE OF WATER IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “B.C. can continue reacting to water emergencies one season at a time or it can finally start governing our watersheds like the critical infrastructure they are,” wrote Tricia Brett and Vickey Brown in a Vancouver Sun op-ed (June 2026)
Note to Reader:
Tricia Brett is a city councillor of the District of Lake Country and co-chair of the Okanagan Collaborative Leadership Table. Vickey Brown is mayor of the Village of Cumberland and director at large at the Union of B.C. Municipalities. These elected representatives from different regions collaborated to co-author an op-ed, titled B.C. is running dry. Provincial leadership urgently needed, which was published by the Vancouver Sun newspaper on June 18, 2026.
As BC runs dry, Province must show leadership
“Before summer has even begun, much of B.C. is running dry,” wrote Vickey Brown and Tricia Brett.
“Snowpack levels have collapsed to two per cent of normal in the Okanagan and zero on Vancouver Island. Rivers in these regions are flowing lower than ever for this time of year. And the forecast looks painfully short of the rain we need.”
Representing local governments in these places, we know the stress this causes residents and local businesses. Yet our communities are being asked to manage growing water risks without the authority, resources or tools required to do so effectively. That must change.”
To Learn More:
To read the complete o-ed, download a PDF copy of “As BC runs dry, Province must show leadership” as published in the Vancouver Sun newspaper.
British Columbia has seen worse droughts than previously thought, tree rings reveal
By analyzing tree rings, researchers are able to peer further back into B.C.’s water history than the existing records. Shallower tree rings reveal years of more extreme summer drought, said researcher Bethany Coulthard in a 2016 interview by CBC News. It is timely to bring her work forward when British Columbia is again faced with a drought summer following extremely low snowpack levels in the regions where most of the population lives.
“We have underestimated both how common and how severe the worst droughts are in this part of BC. If we don’t implement more conservative mitigation strategies, the region will be seriously underprepared when one of these droughts hits. The impacts would be disastrous for stream ecology and salmon,” concluded Bethany Coulthard in an interview titled The tale the trees tell: droughts will be worse in BC.
To Learn More:
To read the complete story posted on the Water-Centric Planning Community-of-Practice, click on this link to BRITISH COLUMBIA HAS SEEN WORSE DROUGHTS: “We can reasonably anticipate that droughts worse than anything we’ve reconstructed in the past 350 years will be happening in the coming decades,” stated paleoclimatologist Bethany Coulthard when she published the results of her tree ring research in March 2016
FLASHBACK TO 2015: Consequential Impact of a Changing Climate Resulted in a “Teachable Year”
“Too often people think of land and water as being independent – almost like silos. But what you do on the land or how you treat the land has direct implications and consequences for water use. That is what we are beginning to see now,” stated Kim Stephens, Partnership for Water Sustainability, in interviews with CBC and Global News in July 2015 when drought was top of mind for British Columbians.
“Part of the change that has been evolving over the past decade especially is how we view our watersheds, and how we are learning to do things differently and appreciate the significance of designing with nature. This includes being in tune with nature’s cycles.”
“The reality is that in terms of the changing climate we do have warmer, wetter winters and longer, drier summers. This is the New Normal. That pattern has been taking shape for a decade now. 2015 is our next big teachable year. It will change how we do business over the next few years.”
To Learn More:
Read B.C.’s Top Story of 2015 revealed…. to watch the year-end interview of Kim Stephens by Dan Burritt on CBC TV News
FAST FORWARD TO 2026: Current Snowpack and Drought Conditions
One factor contributing to early-season wildfire concerns in British Columbia is the below-average snowpack observed in several parts of the province. Snowpack provides insurance against dry soil and vegetation during the spring and summer by slowly releasing meltwater into ecosystems and waterways as temperatures warm.
While provincial snowpack was measured at approximately 83% of normal overall, conditions varied considerably by region. Areas with well-below normal snowpack included Vancouver Island, the South Coast, Skagit, Okanagan, Lower Thompson, and Upper Fraser West (refer to Figure below).
In Metro Vancouver, the snowpack that the district relies on for water was reported to be roughly 50% of normal, prompting regional officials to implement lawn watering restrictions beginning May 1.
To Learn More:
Visit https://climatedata.ca/
