The Black Mountain Irrigation District (BMID) will be moving to Stage 1 water restriction starting Friday, July 16.
Residents who live in odd-numbered addresses are asked to turn on their sprinklers on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Those living in even-numbered houses can use their sprinklers on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Automatic sprinklers are to run between midnight and 6 a.m. Manual sprinklers can be used between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m and again between 7 p.m. and midnight.
Agriculture and irrigation customers will see their total volume of water to their parcel reduced. They are asked to check sprinklers, nozzles and flow rates to make sure they are within their water allocation. BMID bailiffs will be patrolling the district to check on conformance.
All activities to the back-country should also be deferred until there is significant precipitation in the region.
The water restrictions come after the Okanagan Board Water Basin (OBWB) moved the Okanagan region to a Level 3 drought, which could have environmental and economic impacts on residents. The warm, dry spring and the unprecedented heat wave in June have stressed water sources and infrastructure, said the OBWB in its drought bulletin. The BMID moved the district into Stage 1 water restrictions as a result, but an end date is uncertain because the district does not know when the drought will end.
“The Kamloops Forest Service has our watershed fire risk rated as ‘extreme.’ BMID was extremely fortunate in that the B.C. Wildfire Service was able to contain the 3,300-acre Derrickson Lake fire in our watershed,” said the BMID.
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