Drought Management in Lake Country

Our new Operations Manager, Greg Buchholz has just finished the District's Drought Management Strategy. I found the document and the points very interesting and useful. Please take the time to review the whole document, which will be posted online in the next few days at www.lakecountry.bc.ca. In the meantime, I have a couple of paragraphs from the document in this blog entry.

"Snow pack levels are down across the province, sparking concerns that drought conditions may arise later in the year for many regions. The Province and various stakeholder groups are taking action in the form of education and drought management preparation workshops.

At the end of March, the snow pack feeding the upper level lakes upon which the District relies for its water supply was approximately 74% of normal. Oyama Lake is currently 10% lower than normal for this time of year while Swalwell (Beaver) Lake is at normal levels.

Based on experience, District Operations project that Swalwell Lake will reach or approach full pool subsequent to freshet, but Oyama Lake will not.

It is prudent to take early proactive action to safeguard against longer-term water shortages. The key is to prevent problems from arising, as opposed to having to take large-scale actions after water storage has diminished to perilous levels.

Water conservation and drought preparedness are interrelated and our best tool to manage potential water shortages as a reactionary measure is demand side management. The following point-form list details our drought preparedness/water conservation action plan for 2010.
1) Check agricultural irrigation dole valves and measure actual consumption rates to ensure water usage matches allotments. Work will be performed by water operations staff as part of their regular duties. Cooperative follow up with farmers to rectify any issues and help educate will be an integral part of this task.
2) Improve on existing protocols for ongoing water supply turn on/offs on the Oyama Lake source to better control demands as a shared resource.
3) Enforce water regulations per District bylaws to ensure negligent water use is not occurring. Every effort will be made to educate and cooperate with water users to achieve voluntary compliance.
4) Monitor supply status on a continuing basis and keep water users informed through the District website and special means (advertisements, brochures) as necessary.
5) Public outreach and education. Perform field audits and monitoring of residential neighbourhoods. Provide educational materials to water users found watering during restricted times or in an improper fashion.
6) Oyama Lake Supply Irrigation Allotment. Provide early notification to farmers of potential reduction in the number of watering days, from 120 to 110. Provide updates over time as information becomes available or the situation changes."

adf