B.C. drought woes spur call for universal water metering

Despite recent rain and snow, data from the federal government found most of the Pacific region was under drought conditions as of the end of February.

With another year of anticipated drought conditions bearing down on British Columbia, some experts say it’s time for universal water metering to be implemented provincewide.

Despite recent rain and snow, data from the federal government found most of the Pacific region was under drought conditions as of the end of February, while the latest snowpack monitoring shows much of B.C. well below average.

“Any advanced society should actually account for water in the proper manner, and the only way to do that is metering it,” said Hans Schreier, professor emeritus of land and water systems at UBC.

Schrier said research has shown that the implementation of water metering in other jurisdictions resulted in a drop in water use of about 20 per cent.

“The public is still under the impression that there is no water problem in Vancouver,” he said, pointing to our typically rainy winters.

But with increasingly dry summers and limited capacity to expand the region’s reservoirs, he said the public will need to come to terms with limiting use in the years to come.

“We have not valued water sufficiently, and the time has come to start to become realistic that we have been spoiled and things are changing and they are changing very quickly.”

According to Metro Vancouver, residents of the region use about 270 litres each per day, a number that surges to about 450 litres when commercial uses are factored in. The region as a whole consumes close to a billion litres daily.