Watershed vulnerability depends on size, aspect and amount of precipitation
In part one of this four-story series, we look at what the reduced snowpack means for the West Kootenay’s water supply.
He cites the example of Calgary’s Glenmore Reservoir, which is a lake created by a dam on the Elbow River. Across the province the snowpack on April 1 was 63 per cent of normal, the lowest average snow level since 1970. The provincial government’s River Forecast Centre, which measures snowpack, states that it is unlikely there will be much additional snowfall this year.
But systems dependent on surface water — like Nelson, Ymir, Kaslo, and South Slocan — are more vulnerable. This is especially true of the Arrow Creek system that supplies water to Creston and Erickson. That system has had severe water shortages in recent years and is the subject of a major RDCK feasibility study to find alternative water sources for both domestic use and irrigation.
Carver is the author of a 2017 report entitled Water Monitoring and Climate Change in the Upper Columbia Basin, in which he wrote that snowpacks in the Columbia Basin dropped by an average of 22 per cent between 1956 and 2005. In Nelson, Johnson says the level of the snowpack alone does not determine whether the city will impose water restrictions.
Carver says that in terms of snowpack and water, the City of Nelson is less threatened than it might seem, even though its only source is surface water. Logging may not affect the drinking water supply of communities that get their water from a lake or river, but for surface water users, this can be complex and subject to change as new areas are logged.For Castlegar and Trail, the story is different from that of Nelson because their water is sourced from large bodies of water.
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