In what could be a sign of things to come for B.C.’s Southern Interior, the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen has issued watering restrictions for one community.
The RDOS says Stage 1 restrictions are now in place for the Olalla Water System, which serves roughly 200 properties around 45 kilometres southwest of Penticton.
“This is necessary to reduce pressure on the system and to maintain adequate firefighting flows,” said the regional district.
Stage 1 restrictions, added the RDOS, are intended to reduce total and peak use by 10 per cent.
Affected residents can only water their lawns, shrubs or flowers twice a week — except on Mondays.
Manual sprinkling will be allowed from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., or 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., while automated sprinkling is allowed from 12:01 a.m. to 6 a.m.
There are exceptions for newly planted sod, trees or flowering shrubs (any day at any time, for the first 49 days after planting) and topping up or refilling pools, hot tubs, ponds or water features (up to a maximum of 40,000 litres).
“Stage 1 is to inform the public of the potential for more severe drought if early drought (drier than average) conditions for local area are occurring,” said the RDOS.
In related news, the Okanagan Basin Water Board issued a drought bulletin on Friday.
“Okanagan water purveyors should closely monitor supplies and customer demand and consider ramping up communication with customers in preparation for potentially worsening drought conditions this summer,” said the Water Board, adding the snowpack in the Okanagan region is now completely melted.
“Streamflows have declined significantly over the last few weeks, with many flows reaching the lower end of the historical range for this time period.”
The Water Board continued, saying “Whether a community moves to a higher restriction stage depends on several factors, including customer demand, infrastructure capacity and local water supply conditions. That said, everyone should be using water wisely.”
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