The City of Enderby has declared a state of local emergency due to an imminent loss of water.
Residents and businesses west of the Bawtree Bridge are asked to take all steps to conserve water until further notice.
“The ity will be implementing its powers pursuant to the Emergency Program Act that it considers necessary to prevent or alleviate the effects of the emergency,” said Tate Bengtson, chief administrative officer.
“The city is requiring businesses and residents to co-operate with the mandatory water conservation advisory to ensure that water availability is not completely eliminated.”
The following steps should be taken by all businesses and residents immediately:
· Eliminate all non-essential water usage entirely.
· Use bottled water for consumption.
· Limit essential water usage to the absolute bare minimum.
On Friday, a boil water advisory was issued for all customers west of the Enderby Bridge due to elevated turbidity in the Shuswap River.
Also complicating the situation is that in April, a drinking water main break occurred in the system.
“With the last month’s string of events and the past 36 hours of storms, the city currently can’t produce water as fast as it is being used by our businesses and residents. It is at this time we are calling on Everyone to conserve as much water as possible,” said Mayor Greg McCune on Facebook.
“Please think through your day and use only what is necessary. “
McCune has also announced actions he is taking at his business, Sutherland’s.
“Sutherland’s ice cream shop has been closed until further notice and we will try and keep the store open as we use very little water and what we do need we are using bottled water,” he said.
“We will be closing our washrooms because that is the only way we can control the water usage there. I know Enderby will do all they can to avoid the worst possible scenario.”
