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Record low snow pack puts strain on water systems
A record low snow pack in the mountains on Vancouver Island is leading to water restrictions in many communities.
The Comox Valley is instituting Stage Two restrictions beginning on Monday.
This mean residents will only be able to water their lawns two days a week instead of every second day like they are allowed to right now.
The Comox Lake reservoir is full, however inflows into the lake from area mountains are below historical record lows.
BC Hydro is limiting the water it is releasing at the Comox Lake Dam in order to conserve as much as it can for as long as it can.
A main factor for reducing residential use is the fear of not having enough water available for fire protection.
A large structure fire in Courtney last Friday illustrated how much water is required at an event like that.
“On the fire we had the other night, Friday night was a fully involved structure fire.
I would estimate we were probably putting out with our master stream in excess of 2000 gallons per minute so we in an event like that have a huge draw on the system,” said Deputy Fire Chief Dennis Henderson.
The Regional District says Stage Three restrictions are likely this summer as well.