Water levels good in area reservoirs
Former mayor David Gregory, left, and Greg Mealing, former water operations superintendent discuss the expansion of Thirsk Lake. The expanded reservoir was opened in the spring of 2008.
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Updated: October 07, 2009 4:46 PM
Thanks to careful conservation efforts throughout the community, Summerland now has plenty of water left in the reservoirs.
Scott Lee, water operations manager for the municipality, said the level at Thirsk Lake is 6,100 megalitres.
This is 43 per cent of the 14,136 megalitre capacity at the reservoir lake to the west of the municipality.
“We’re happy,” he said. “We are pleased with the outcome.”
At Garnett Lake, the water level is at 69 per cent of full capacity.
Lee believes the residential water metering initiative, which was announced this summer, is a factor in the reduction of water use.
“The notion of having meters has fostered a high degree of public awareness,” he said.
Through most of the summer, the community was under Stage 2 watering restrictions.
The restrictions allow for watering of residential lawns and gardens twice a week.
At the end of last week, the restrictions were dropped to Stage 1, allowing watering three days a week.
Agricultural users are under different regulations for their water use.
Irrigation lines will be shut off on Oct. 13.
Lee said the municipal reservoirs are not guaranteed to fill next year, although the long-range forecast calls for a milder but wetter winter this year.
Last year, the winter was significantly drier than usual.
“We didn’t have more snow than last year,” he said. “We did not have a large snow pack at higher elevations.”
For next year, work on the water system separation, which divides the water system into domestic and irrigation streams, is expected to reduce some of the demand on the water treatment plant.
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