While other Vancouver Islanders worry about dwindling water supplies in the face of hot, dry weather, Greater Victoria residents have been blissfully opening up the taps.
Greater Victoria water consumption in May was up about 16 per cent over the five-year average, even though watering restrictions automatically kicked in on May 1, limiting lawn watering to twice a week.
So far this month, water consumption is up about 11 per cent over the five-year average, the Capital Regional District water commission was told on Wednesday.
“So, certainly, the weather is having an impact on our consumption and ultimately our supply,” said Ted Robbins, general manager of CRD Integrated Water Services.
But there’s no concern about supply or even a need to move to Stage 2 restrictions, which would essentially reduce residential lawn watering to one day a week, he said.
“In short, there are no concerns with supply despite the recent higher-than-average consumption.”
Sooke Lake Reservoir is holding at just under 90 per cent capacity, he said, with a current storage volume of 83.4 million cubic metres.
“Considering the current and projected demand and the long-term weather forecast throughout the summer, there would only be concern today if the Sooke Lake storage volume was at about 50 million cubic metres,” Robbins said.
The higher water use has a financial silver lining. By the end of the year, $820,000 in additional revenue is expected, about three per cent over budget, Robbins said.
While commissioners accepted Robbins’s recommendation simply to continue monitoring the reservoir levels, not all were convinced they shouldn’t step up conservation efforts.
View Royal Coun. John Rogers and Central Saanich Coun. Zeb King argued it might be prudent to move to Stage 2 restrictions now.
Rogers worried that should water supplies take a precipitous drop during the summer, it might be difficult to get a quorum so the commission could act.
“I can’t remember the last time I watered my lawn and I don’t think we need to continue to water twice a week,” King said.
Saanich Coun. Vic Derman said problems with water supply will emerge next year, not this year, if there isn’t a lot of winter rain.
“We essentially have a two-year supply of water and we rely on that supply of water to be re-established in each winter rainy season,” Derman said.
“So that a one-summer drought is, in normal circumstances, not going to change this that dramatically,” he said.
“But if we have a couple of years of drought, then we are in difficulty.”
In the first week of June, the B.C. government issued a statement urging all municipal, agricultural and industrial users on Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and Haida Gwaii to reduce water use by 20 per cent or more, anticipating the possibility of “significant water supply shortages in 2015.”
The B.C. Wildfire Management Branch has classified the fire danger in Greater Victoria as extreme.
