A pair of Shuswap municipalities have had time to soak in the results of their first summer with new water restrictions.
Both the City of Salmon Arm and the District of Sicamous enforced four-stage restrictions to ensure sufficient reserves throughout the dry season, a measure that met with positive results. While both communities maintain Stage One restrictions throughout the year, implementation of further restrictions this summer, limiting the number of outdoor watering days per week, proved successful.
“The operations team was pleased with the overall participation by residents throughout the summer months,” Sicamous operations manager Darrell Symbaluk said. “On July 20, we moved to Stage Two water restrictions, and we noticed a modest reduction of approximately 10-15 per cent of water demand almost immediately.”
While Sicamous only reached Stage Two over the summer, Salmon Arm went to Stage 4 (prohibiting outdoor watering) in late August due to ongoing drought conditions and the city’s proximity to the Bush Creek East wildfire. City engineering and public works director Rob Niewenhuizen said it was good timing to roll out the full range of restrictions.
“When we went into Stage 4, I think, because of the urgency of the fires, people realized that it’s important, and we saw a huge reduction in our water use,” Niewenhuizen explained. “So, I think citizens were definitely on board. It was a good learning lesson for everybody to get used to that.”
Read more: City of Salmon Arm water restrictions flow back to Stage 1
Read more: Council Report: Discussions around wildfire and drought to be had in Salmon Arm
In introducing the changing usage limits, prompted by the 2021 heat dome, both municipalities took an education rather than enforcement stance and provided non-compliant residents with information on the program to get them on board. It wasn’t, however, all smooth sailing, as the reality of Sicamous being a resort town presented some issues.
“One of the biggest challenges for Sicamous is to reach and educate the public during the summer months, as the population turnover is so high,” Symbaluk stated. “Keeping the messaging front and centre is an ongoing challenge in a community that sees a high degree of short-term vacationers coming and going daily.”
Being located on the shores of Shuswap Lake also, ironically, proved to be another challenge to the municipalities as residents saw it as an easily accessible resource that actually required more behind-the-scenes effort to readily use.
“People look out at the lake and see a lot of water, but the big concern is that we have to treat that water, and have to pump it up to the areas that need it,” Niewenhuizen explained. “We have five water zones in our area, and that takes a lot of energy to pump it. So the areas that we’re seeing a lot of stress on, are the areas that are higher levels.”
Despite the program’s success in both communities this year, there is always room for improvement, with some tweaks being worked on for next summer. Symbaluk said the district plans to re-emphasize the education component and provide sound rationale for compliance, while also exploring opportunities to enhance messaging in creative ways to increase awareness and encourage residents to assist with any challenges going forward. Niewenhuizen added that residents voiced concerns about maintaining home gardens during extreme restrictions, and said that in its review, staff will consider advising council to consider allowing hand watering during Stage Four restrictions next year.
Regardless of the minor challenges faced, both municipalities see this as a necessary and required measure going forward, and one that has been generally well accepted as a reality.
“We are seeing climate change, and we have to be prepared for that,” Niewenhuizen stated. “So changes will have to be made at some point.”
Full information on the water restriction stages can be found on the city’s and district’s websites at www.salmonarm.ca and www.sicamous.ca respectively.
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