State of emergency extended in northern B.C. village as threat of water shortage looms

Gene Runtz is worried.

As the Mayor of McBride, B.C., he is staring down the barrel of a potential water shortage this winter that could leave residents and firefighters desperate during a prolonged drought season.

The village, about 184 kilometres east of Prince George in northern B.C., declared a state of emergency on Sept. 19, 2023 and restricted water usage the following day while under Stage 5 drought conditions — the highest level on the province's severity scale.

That state of emergency has now been extended until the end of October following a request from Runtz in writing to the Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness, Bowinn Ma.

"We are at a critical level that we have never been at before," said Runtz, speaking Thursday on CBC's Daybreak South.

He said the village municipality is bringing in a hydrologist to get some immediate data on water levels in Dominion Creek. The creek is the sole water source for the community of just under 600 people in the Robson Valley, about 180 kilometres southeast of Prince George.

Runtz said a current lack of data is making it hard to know what action to take, which could include building a temporary dam higher up the creek from where the current dam is, to try and catch what water might exist at higher elevations.

"We are really working with a situation that we do not have data and that's what just absolutely kills you," said Runtz, adding that he expects to be armed with more information within two weeks.

Dominon Creek is fed by the snowmelt from Lucille Mountain, which Runtz said usually has snow on it through June and July, and sometimes until mid-August. 

In June, the B.C. government, after reviewing satellite imaging, warned Runtz that there was no snow left on Lucille.

"That is very, very historic because that had never happened before," said Runtz. "We are really worried."

Since September, residents have been under a water use restriction order and are not permitted to use sprinklers, hand water outdoor plants, clean the exteriors of buildings and fill their pools or fountains.

That same month, McBride Fire Chief David Hruby, who is also a farmer, said the drought conditions are the worst he's ever seen in his over-four-decade career. He lives in the nearby community of Dominion Creek.

"This is the first time that we've ever been at this level," he said. "[There's] barely any water flowing through there."