Sunshine Coast faces 'very dire situation' with historic low water supply levels
CBC
An ongoing drought on B.C.'s Sunshine Coast has caused the region's water supply to reach historic low levels, and local authorities are warning of a "very dire situation" if it continues.
The Sunshine Coast Regional District has been at Stage 4 water restrictions since Aug. 31, banning all outdoor use, and an emergency operations centre was established last week to respond to the crisis.
"It's really dried up. Our lakes that we're drawing water from are at a level that we haven't seen before," Remko Rosenboom, the regional district's general manager of infrastructure services, told CBC.
"If we're not taking actions in the short term, given the ongoing warm weather and the lack of rain in the forecast, we might otherwise be in a very dire situation several weeks from now."
As things stood on Tuesday, Rosenboom said the region has a guaranteed water supply until early November, and "a significant amount of rain" is necessary before then to prevent the situation from deteriorating.
According to Environment Canada's current forecast, there's no rain expected on the Sunshine Coast for the next week at least, and temperatures could reach above 20 C most days.
Rosenboom said the priority right now is making sure there's enough water for hospitals and firefighting.
Local residents are being encouraged to take shorter showers and only use their dishwashers and laundry machines when they have full loads.
P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch is looking for 50 substitute bus drivers, and it'll be recruiting at three job fairs on Saturday, June 8. The job fairs are located at the Atlantic Superstore in Montague, Royalty Crossing in Charlottetown, and the bus parking lot of Three Oaks Senior High in Summerside. All three run from 9 a.m. until noon. Dave Gillis, the director of transportation and risk management for the Public Schools Branch, said the number of substitute drivers they're hiring isn't unusual. "We are always looking for more. Our drivers tend to have an older demographic," he said.