Sunshine Coast banning outdoor water use amid drought
The Sunshine Coast Regional District is banning all outdoor use of potable water starting Friday in an effort to conserve supply.
Stage 4 water restrictions will apply to residents of the district whose supply comes from the Chapman Water System, which includes those in Sechelt, Halfmoon Bay and Roberts Creek.
"Our water supply is at risk due to prolonged dry weather," a notice form the district says.
"Under these drought conditions, water use priorities focus on water for human health, firefighting and minimum creek flow requirements."
Among the activities banned under these restrictions are watering plants and flowers with a hose and washing vehicles or boats. Bans on lawn watering, filling private pools or hot tubs and washing sidewalks, driveways and fences were already prohibited.
In addition, all businesses and residents are being urged have a "water reduction strategy" to limit indoor use as much as possible.
During Stage 4 restrictions, the district says fines of $500 can be issued without warning to anyone caught violating the rules.
CHAPMAN WATERSHED DRYING UP
The Sunshine Coast Conservation Association has been monitoring water levels at the Chapman Creek watershed, where 90 per cent of Sunshine Coast residents get their water supply.
On Wednesday, Evan Lee-Dodek and Sofia Carroll, environmental project coordinators with the SCCA, went to Tetrahedron Provincial Park to look at the watershed and were startled by what they saw.
“We saw extremely low water levels. The lake is at 14 per cent capacity right now,” Lee-Dodek said. “We went there earlier in the summer, in June, and the contrast between then and yesterday was so drastic and it's definitely a cause for concern in the community—how little water we have left.”
The pair did not anticipate seeing the drastic change.
They wore waterproof shoes and were anticipating more flowing water.
“We got up there and it was very dry and we could move around the lake with ease and there was just a very, very low level of water,” Carroll explained.
They captured drone footage of the watershed to spread awareness of how dire the drought situation is.
They encourage people to take steps to conserve water, such as taking shorter showers and being cognizant of water usage in the home.
They’re also asking people to track their water usage by signing up through the Sunshine Coast Regional District’s website for a chance to win prizes.
“This will just give people an idea of how much water they're actually using, and may incentivize people to use less water,” Lee-Dodek said.
“The water levels will most likely keep dropping throughout the fall. We're gonna get a few more weeks of low levels of rain and no rain, and we're going to keep using water. So it's important to understand that,” Carroll said.
HOPING HISTORY DOESN'T REPEAT ITSELF
Last year, the district declared a state of emergency due to drought and ordered swimming pools, breweries, non-medical cannabis producers, businesses that bottle water, and those that transport and install concrete, cement and gravel to halt the use of potable water.
This year, a well and siphons have been installed to increase the water supply.
Leonard Lee, chair of the regional district, said they are introducing Stage 4 restrictions now to prevent a repeat of last year.
“We're hoping to avoid having to enter into a state of local emergency, which is actually the last resort, because you never want to get to where you do not have sufficient water for your hospitals and for your firefighting and for basic use in the home,” Lee said.
New restrictions in the district come as drought conditions persist across the province, fuelling record-breaking wildfires and prompting a dire warning from provincial officials.
Eighty per cent of the province's watersheds are at drought level four or five. This means that "adverse impacts on both communities and ecosystems" are likely or almost certain, according to the province's ranking system.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING BMO clients face outages in Canada, U.S. following data centre fire alarm
Bank of Montreal clients on both sides of the border Thursday morning have reported outages with banking services. BMO said its technical team is investigating.
Drive one of these vehicles? You may pay 37 per cent more than average insurance costs due to thefts
As the number of auto theft incidents rises in Canada, so have insurance premiums for drivers, even the ones whose vehicles aren't stolen.
B.C. mortgage broker ran $270-million Ponzi scheme, then fled Canada, bankruptcy trustee says
The trustee appointed to manage the bankruptcies of a Victoria mortgage company and its owner has concluded that they committed "numerous offences" and operated as a "massive Ponzi scheme."
'I'm not wealthy': Ontario senior shocked she owes $40,000 in capital gains after gifting land
An Ontario senior who wanted to help her daughter and grandson eventually own homes one day decided to give them two lots on her property as a gift—but she didn’t know it would eventually cost her tens of thousands of dollars.
Want to turn off Meta AI? You can't - but there are some workarounds
If you use Facebook, WhatsApp or Instagram, you've probably noticed a new character pop up answering search queries or eagerly offering tidbits of information in your feeds, with varying degrees of accuracy.
opinion Trump's Republicans falling far behind in fundraising, infrastructure
In his latest column for CTVNews.ca, Washington political analyst Eric Ham explains how and why Republicans -- up and down the ballot -- are falling far behind Democrats in both fundraising and infrastructure.
Canadians are eyeing moves to these cities for more affordable housing
Faced with elevated housing prices, half of Canadians in the country's largest cities are considering moving to places with more affordable housing.
Canadians' interest in buying EVs fades as barriers, concerns remain: J.D. Power
A new study finds fewer Canadians say they're interested in buying an electric vehicle as concerns remain about limited driving ranges, high prices and a lack of charging stations.
McDonald's says US$18 Big Mac meal was an 'exception' and their prices haven't risen that much
McDonald’s is fighting back against viral tweets and media reports that it says have exaggerated its price increases.