The village of Burns Lake is urging its residents to conserve water and reduce their water usage.
The heat wave last week had residents reaching for water more often than usual be it for staying hydrated, staying cool through cold showers or watering lawns. This stretched the village’s water reserves and prompted the village to issue a water conservation advisory.
The village is now implementing a summer watering restriction for Burns Lake residents. According to these restrictions, odd numbered houses will be able to water their lawn early in the morning or later in the evening only on odd numbered days while even numbered houses will be able to water their laws early in the morning or late in the evening on even numbered days.
“It is not an actual shortage, our public works noted the increased use and fluctuating levels of the water reservoir,” said Sheryl Worthing, chief administrative officer (CAO) for the village.
The village initially asked residents to not water lawns or wash cars and avoid any unnecessary usage of water and later on Friday last week, issued a summer watering restrictions advisory.
According to Worthing, on average Burns Lake uses 900 cubic meters per day. Currently we are using 2,600 cubic meters per day.
“We are just asking that people try to conserve water, the concern is mostly for fire protection purposes. If the reservoir goes to low and there is a fire before it fills up again, we may run into water supply issues,” she said.
The village is also recommending that residents put their sprinklers on timer to reduce water wastage. The recommended deep watering for the lawn takes between 45 minutes to one hour and after this the lawn doesn’t need to be watered for several days.
This advisory comes on the heels of the heat wave that took the temperatures up to a record-breaking high, followed by the blazing wildfires across the province. At the time of going to press, British Columbia had 119 blazes due to the heat wave and lightning.
While there is no end date to the advisory, Worthing said that this was likely temporary and would be re-evaluated in the coming days.
