Water Use Up; Storage Levels Dropping

The levels of Greater Vernon’s water reservoirs have been draining during this hot dry spell.

Water quality manager Renee Clark with the Regional District of North Okanagan says they’re still in good shape, but are asking people to follow the normal three day a week watering restrictions.

“It’s been very dry and there is no rain predicted for the next week. Our demand is really up. We didn’t see these levels last year at all,” Clark tells Kiss FM.

She says we could see drought conditions without some rain.

“Not at this point, but if we had extended weeks of dryness. If we continue like this for the next three or four weeks, we would be looking at very dry soil.”

Clark says if people don’t cut back on their water use, they may have to go to Stage 1 restrictions which includes more public awareness.

“It gets us out there patrolling a bit more and more education, making people aware that it is dry,” adds Clark.

Greater Vernon Water continues to be at the normal water use restriction stage, which means three days a week of watering based on your address, no watering on Mondays, and no sprinkling  between 10 am and 7 pm.

“Most lawns only need to be watered once per week. Watering restrictions are required year-round to help avoid high water demands that can stress pipes and pumps,” says a GVW release.

Some water wise tips include:

*Water in the evening or early morning to reduce water loss to evaporation.

*Water lawns once a week to encourage deep, healthy roots. Put a tuna can or pie plate under the sprinkler and time how long it takes to fill – that’s how long you need to run the sprinkler to give your lawn a healthy watering.

*Check underground sprinklers monthly to ensure you are watering plants, not pavement.