Municipal water levels in multiple wells in Oliver were five to six feet lower than previous years during the month of July, according to town council.
Both the Miller Road pump station and Tucelnuit pump station had to be turned off because of low levels for a week until the well was able to recharge to bring it to a maintainable well water level.
“We’ve had pumps cut off and we were having trouble with the pumps and sustaining the peak flows at certain times. We just didn’t allow the wells to recharge enough . . . too many pumps were running at the same time basically,” explained Joseph Trottier, AScT, engineering technologist at the Oliver council meeting.
In July, Oliver enacted Stage 2 water restrictions which resulted in a positive impact, according to the latest water report. Domestic water consumption reduced by 12 per cent compared to the Stage 1 water restrictions consumption amount.
Stage 3 water restrictions were put in place on July 30, but there hasn’t been enough data to show if it has reduced water consumption further. Trottier said that perhaps the change will be reflected in August’s water report.
“We did ask the agriculture community to reduce use by 30 per cent – we’ve also continued to educate people and we did phone and have conversations with some of our biggest water users whether that’s institutional, commercial or industrial,” said Trottier.
Coun. Petra Veintimilla inquired if there’s any visual indication of the water levels rising yet despite any recent data to support improvement.
Trottier assured that the restrictions have been helping and added that the wells haven’t been cutting out during peak hours anymore, which is a positive sign.
“I don’t know if the bylaw is making a difference for sure but I think that what we’re doing isn’t hurting,” said Veintimilla. “I was at two different homes, one day after the other on both sides of town and both had a visit from the bylaw officer within the last 24 hours to advise them on watering their garden and whether what they were doing was right or wrong. And a few days later they were driving through my neighbourhood looking for the same thing so just being out there and talking to people on the street, I don’t think that hurt for sure.”
Coun. Aimee Grice chimed in to ask how the compliance has been in terms of residents following the current water restrictions, and if there’s been any push back.
“I’m unsure of how many fines have been issued but I think we’re concentrating more this year mostly on educating as much as we could,” said Trottier, adding that there have been some fines but only if people are ignoring the restriction after being warned a few times.
“It is possible to have a green lawn in following these restrictions,” Grice pointed out. “Just keeping your grass longer, watering a little bit deeper, and watering in the cooler parts of the day…I feel like we are onto something right now and we could probably water like this anyways in the future. It can be done.”
