Seasonal water use restrictions ended Oct. 4 for all but two Sunshine Coast Regional District systems. The exceptions: the South Pender system, where clients remain on Stage 3 and Keats Island's Eastbourne water supply, where Stage 4 continues.
An Oct. 4 SCRD press release noted that those areas have “still not received enough rain to change water conservation regulations."
South Pender water users started 2023 restrictions at Stage 1 as required by regional bylaw on May 1. They were moved to Stage 2 on June 9 and elevated to Stage 3 rules by July 14, as water levels in the system's primary supply, MacNeill Lake, dropped and system demands reached “an all-time high” according to a July 11 regional district press release. That marked the first time the SCRD introduced that level of water use restrictions for that system since taking on ownership in 2008.
Eastbourne has been at Stage 4 since July 31. An SCRD background document on this system details that Stage 4 restrictions occur annually during the dry summer months and that there is generally adequate water supply for restrictions to be lifted between November and April each year.
Water restrictions are lifted for the Chapman, Egmont, Cove Cay, North Pender Harbour, Langdale, Soames Point and Granthams Landing Water Systems.
Summer drought conditions continue
In 2023, the SCRD’s Chapman system, which supplies an estimated 90 per cent of the district’s 24,000 water customers, was placed on Stage 1 use rules on May 1. Stage 2 restrictions followed on July 7 and Stage 3 was called as of Aug. 11. Severe (Stage 4) water conservation measures, including a ban on most outdoor water uses, were introduced Sept. 8. Restrictions were reset to Stage 1 as of Sept. 27, after just over 150 mm of rain fell in the system’s Chapman Lake watershed area between Sept. 23 and 26.
“As with many other communities in the Province, this year we saw a significant period of drought on the Sunshine Coast, which is unfortunately becoming our new normal,” SCRD Chair Leonard Lee stated in the release. “While the Church Road Well Field and installation of water meters will help to secure our water supply, we need to focus on water conservation through the Summer. Whether it’s looking at efficiencies within your home or making your garden tolerant to drought, small changes can make a big difference to our water supply.”
Between 2012 and 2023, the Chapman system reached Stage 4 in seven of those years. In 2022, its users were under that level of restriction from Aug. 31 to Dec. 18.
