Extended nightmarish drought strains British Columbia water systems

Less than a tenth of British Columbia has enough water to supply municipal drinking water systems, farms and ranches, hydro dams, and sustain freshwater ecosystems — despite recent rainfall in parts of the province. 

The shortages come during a nearly year-long spell of drought that has lasted through the winter, with record heat and unprecedentedly low snow levels. Drought conditions stretch from the Lower Mainland to northern B.C., straining the resources for communities and farmers, according to provincial data.  

Vancouver Island and parts of the northern Peace region are particularly hard hit, with officials warning they sit at level four and five droughts, the most severe. 

"What is unique about what we're seeing right now is that drought has happened [before] but it's often been on a region-by-region basis. Last year was the first year where we saw an entire province-wide drought all at once," said Coree Tull, co-chair of the B.C. Watershed Security Coalition, a coalition of farmers, hunters and anglers, Indigenous peoples, local governments, businesses, and conservationists calling for better water management in B.C. 

"Where we start to get real concerns is in places like Vancouver Island, where you have almost the entire island in stage five drought." That creates a nightmarish situation where communities that in the past relied on trucking in water from better-resourced neighbors can no longer call on them because the entire region is struggling with drought, she said. 

The impacts extend beyond drinking water to encompass food and electricity production, she added. Dry conditions reduce how much water farmers can use while increasing demand; they also strain the province's hydroelectricity reservoirs, forcing officials last year to purchase power from outside the province to meet demand. 

East Kootenay rancher Dave Zehnder added the dry conditions have exacerbated the risk of wildfires, which have ripped through record-breaking swaths of B.C. in the past two years. Even his own ranch, located near Invermere, B.C., was impacted when a fire started on the property earlier this year. He managed to extinguish it before it grew out of control, but the fire wiped out part of his timber lot and could have easily devastated the neighbouring community watershed. 

Salmon and other fish are also at risk, added Aaron Hill, executive director of the Watershed Watch Salmon Society, as low water levels make it harder for them to spawn. Those shallow rivers are also warmer, stressing salmon (which need cool water) and preventing them from reaching the spawning grounds. 

While the rain is "helpful," he said it’s a grim reminder that the species' survival is on the edge amid drought and warmer waters. Just a "little bit of rain and a little bit of cool weather can make the difference between life and death for thousands or tens of thousands of salmon." 

Despite expectations that droughts will become more common and severe as the climate crisis deepens, Tull said there is more governments can do to quench the province's thirst. For instance, unlike most other Canadian provinces, B.C. does not require municipalities to meter their water; only a handful do. Implementing the practice province-wide would help reduce water waste, she said, as would better monitoring of large industrial water users. 

Building more water storage reservoirs and bolstering wetlands are other ways to increase the amount of water stored in the environment following winter rain and snowfall, she said. Even building fake beaver dams – so-called "beaver dam analogues" – can help, mimicking highly effective natural storage systems.

Most importantly, she said the provincial and federal governments need to better fund these kinds of pre-emptive drought mitigation efforts. The coalition she co-chairs is calling for the creation of a billion-dollar endowment that could grant money to communities each year to help them better conserve and store water. 

In a statement, a spokesperson for the B.C. Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship noted the province has spent about $788 million over the last three years for a suite of drought-related programs targeting everything from salmon to cattle. 

While she acknowledged this support is important, Tull said it was essential the provincial and federal government, as well as other organizations and donors, create an endowment. That model would prevent the current "piecemeal" approach, enabling First Nations and local governments to take a more preventative approach to the problem. 

"The climate crisis is a water crisis, and how it shows up is either we have way too much water or we don't have enough water," she said, citing the ongoing drought and dramatic 2021 floods. "There's this myth of abundance that we've got all this water and we don't have to worry about it. What I would say is that we still have enough water in British Columbia – but we need to manage it better."