The City of Dawson Creek is implementing Stage 2 Water Conservation Measures, effective at noon Friday.
The decision comes as the Kiskatinaw River, the city’s only water source, is at its lowest level in recorded history due to ongoing drought conditions in the Peace Region.
“Hauling bulk water for non-potable use is the key area that will be affected during these conservation measures,” say city officials.
They say Stage 2 prevents the use of bulk water in hydraulic fracturing operations for oil and gas industries.
The restrictions also apply to watering lawns during certain period of the day. For even-numbered addresses, residents can only water their lawn on Wednesdays and Saturdays between 4 and 9 in the morning and between 7 and 10 at night. For odd-numbered addresses, residents can only water their lawn Thursday and Sundays between 4 and 9 in the morning and between 7 and 10 at night.
Residents must also use an automatic shut-off device on hoses to wash boats or motor vehicles.
These measures come after the city announced last week, that they are looking for a new water source.
In 2009, the city installed a control weir at Bearhole Lake to release water into the Kiskatinaw River during low flows. They say they are now out of water to feed into the river, because of the current drought and low snowpack.
Natasha Cowie, River Forecast Hydrologist for BC River Forecast Center, says the south of the Peace Region is an area of concern. She says despite some decent amount of precipitation recorded by stations around the Kiskatinaw River, the flows are lower than expected.
“You’d expect to see a little bit more of a sustained rise in stream flows. Instead, they just kind of went up and went right back down very quickly,” Cowie says. “That just speaks to how extremely dry the ground is and how low that river is right now,” she adds.
Cowie also says that the North Peace Region is receiving lots of rain, and she’s not worried about that part of northeast BC.
The city stresses that this is not an emergency, but careful planning and consideration is required as the summer continues.