Historic drought behind B.C. wildfires, salmon die-off could continue, experts say
CTV
Thousands of dead fish, a prolonged wildfire season and intense water shortages leading to ice rink closures are all symptoms of record-setting drought in parts of British Columbia.
The Lower Mainland, Sunshine Coast and West Vancouver Island areas are experiencing Level 5 drought conditions - the most severe in the province's classification scale, which the B.C. government's drought information web page says means adverse impacts are “almost certain.”
John Richardson, a University of British Columbia professor in the department of forest and conservation sciences, said the current stretch of parched conditions is an anomaly for the province.
“This is quite prolonged,” he said in an interview. “This is the warmest, driest September we've ever had on record.”
Though Environment Canada is calling for a chance of rain in some parts of the province Monday, David Campbell, head of the BC River Forecast Centre, said the dry weather could persist for at least another week, “if not several weeks.”
Experts say the drought conditions have already brought on significant adverse effects.
Thousands of dead wild salmon were found last week in the Neekas Creek, which runs through Heiltsuk Territory in the central coast region of the province.
William Housty, conservation manager for the Heiltsuk Integrated Resource Management Department, said he has seen pre-spawn mortality before “but never to this degree.”
“We're looking at pretty much 100 per cent mortality of all the salmon that were in the creek at that time. It's just unheard of at this time of year that we don't have rain,” he said.