Low snowpack a concern for Vancouver Island communities heading into summer

A warming climate and rising population on Vancouver Island mean managing water reserves can be a delicate balance.

Water is said to be our most important natural resource, but a warming climate and rising population on Vancouver Island mean managing our reserves can be a delicate balance.

Kris La Rose is the general manager of engineering services with the Comox Valley Regional District. He says the regional district has five different water systems, each one fed by a different water source, with the largest being Comox Lake.

Three of those five are highly dependent on snowpack levels in the alpine of the Comox Valley, which is currently sitting extremely low at just 27 per cent of normal as of early May.

“We are definitely concerned,” said La Rose.

On May 1, the Comox Valley Regional District, much like other communities on Vancouver Island, implemented its Stage 1 water restrictions. In a normal year, the district will go to Stage 2 on July 1.

“This year it seems likely that we will end up accelerating that timeline,” said La Rose.

Unless the Comox Valley experiences a wet June, it expects to go into Stage 3 by the end of summer and potentially even Stage 4. The CVRD says that has never been implemented before outside of an infrastructure malfunction such as a watermain break.

“A Stage 4 restriction is pretty impactful. It restricts all but non-essential use of water both indoors and outdoors,” said La Rose.

In the District of North Cowichan, it is much the same.

“We have three communities — Chemainus, Crofton and the south end,” said Klay Reitsma, director of engineering for the district.

One water system is fed by the Cowichan River while the other two are well systems, tapping into aquifers which closely interact with two rivers.

“When river flows get low, on occasion the province may impose some additional restrictions on aquifers,” said Reitsma.

The District of North Cowichan also went into a Stage 1 water restriction on May 1. Reitsma says going into Stage 2 is certainly a possibility, or even Stage 3 if necessary.

The City of Nanaimo relies on the Jump Lake Reservoir for its water supply that is currently full, relying on rainfall to top up its levels.

“We’re in really good shape right now,” said Mike Squire, manager of water resources for the City of Nanaimo.

That city’s watershed is low-lying, meaning any snowpack melt it may get is an added bonus, although this year there was little to no snowfall at those elevations.

Nanaimo is also hoping for a wet June in order to maintain its current water levels and is currently at Level 2 restrictions out of an abundance of caution.

Squire says it is not just the island’s human population that depends so heavily on our number one precious natural resource, it is also salmon during the spawning season.

“Half the amount of water that we actually impound in our watershed, behind our dam, is for fisheries purposes,” said Squire. “People are seeing water conservation like they saw recycling 20 years ago.”

Nanaimo’s manager of water resources says people are taking water conservation seriously and that is backed up by city data.

“We are using the same amount of water that we were using 30 years ago yet we have a population of 50,000 more so that’s a really good trend,” said Squire.

It’s a trend that regional water managers up and down Vancouver Island hope will continue into the future as a potentially dry and concerning summer looms above every water source on the island.