Water shortages and damage to fish stocks are possible if extremely dry conditions persist, the province warned Wednesday as it increased the drought rating in two regions.

The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations announced a Level 4 drought rating for both the South Coast and Lower Fraser areas because of low stream flows.

“Further declines in stream, lake and aquifer levels could lead to water shortages and affect people, industry such as agriculture, wildlife, and fish stocks,” an announcement read.

The forests minister, Steve Thomson, said conditions will likely become even drier before the weekend.

The Lower Mainland and South Fraser drought ratings were increased to a Level 3 on June 30.

Officials are urging people living in both areas to do what they can to minimize water use during the dry spell.

Last week, the City of Vancouver issued a bulletin warning that bylaw officers would be escalating enforcement to catch residents ignoring watering restrictions. Those caught watering their lawns outside of the designated times can be fined up to $250.

More than 800 people have called the city since June 1 to call out their neighbours for water misuse. Some have taken to Twitter using the hashtag “Grasshole” to describe people watering their lawn during the drought.

Metro Vancouver said it is taking the drought rating into account in its ongoing analysis of watering restrictions, but it doesn't change the Stage 2 restrictions in place for most of the region.

The local resevoir is at 73 per cent, owing to the weekend's rainfall and reduced water consumption.

Restrictions coming?

The province says there are mounting concerns the record-dry spell will translate to water shortages.

“Although residential, agricultural and industrial users within municipalities and regional districts backed by reservoir storage are less vulnerable to water supply shortages than water users served by smaller water systems from streams, lakes and wells, all water users are encouraged to observe local water conservation bylaws to prolong water supplies and to maintain flows for fish and ecosystems,” the province said.

The province says while some rivers in Howe Sound and Squamish are recording normal water levels, others in the South Coast and Lower Fraser are well below the seasonal average.

Fishing closures aren’t planned in these regions currently, however the fisheries biologists are keeping an eye on 60 angling streams – and say they could be shut down if necessary.

Some streams on southern Vancouver Island, the South Okanagan and the Cariboo have already been closed to fishing.

There are now 175 wildfires blazing across the province, and campfire bans remain in place in most areas.