Greater Vernon Water is under Stage Normal Restrictions

http://www.rdno.ca/docs/160503_Reservoir_Update.pdf

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http://www.rdno.ca/index.php/services/engineering/water/water-restrictions
Greater Vernon Water is under Stage Normal Restrictions. Reservoir levels are used as one factor in determining restriction stage, along with weather forecasts and customer demand levels.
The utility moved to Stage Normal from Stage 1, based on the March 8th BC River Forecast Centre Report noting above normal snowpack and current reservoir levels. The BC River Forecast Centre notes the prospect of warmer than normal spring temperatures, which could result in an early start to the irrigation season and an increase in water demands. GVW will continue to monitor reservoir levels, snowpack, and climate forecasts weekly.
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Stage 1 Quick Reference Guide

Reservoir levels

http://www.rdno.ca/docs/150901_Restriction_Trigger.pdf

Slow tap flow fails to reduce water restrictions

by Roger Knox - Vernon Morning Star posted Aug 21, 2015 at 1:00 AM
Water consumption within the Regional District of North Okanagan has been reduced marginally. But not enough to remove Stage 1 water restrictions for Greater Vernon Water customers. In fact, Stage 2 restrictions could soon be implemented. “Water consumption has been reduced marginally, but reduced,” said RDNO engineering general manager Dale McTaggart, updating board directors on a report he wrote July 27 concerning Greater Vernon Water restrictions and RDNO’s drought management plan (DMP). “We’re actually getting back into the blue, which means back into normal, but we do not plan to change the restriction.” In the report, directors were notified that although drought parameters for Greater Vernon Water are currently in Stage 1 restrictions, forecasts indicate that Stage 2 restrictions may be required to safeguard water supply. Upland snowpack levels are below average, the river forecast centre numbers are unfavourable and irrigation water demand remains high. “We did advise the agricultural committee that if the drought continues, there is no rain, and the reservoirs are getting low, we may have to move the irrigation shutdown forward a week,” said McTaggart, who remained hopeful that a planned shutdown for September is still on track. Right now, said McTaggart, Stage 1 restrictions will stay in place through the fall. “In our drought master plan, the concerns about reservoirs are over a two-year period,” he said. “If we don’t get a heavy snowfall this winter, we could be in real trouble next year. We just don’t know what lies ahead.” McTaggart said RDNO staff will continue to closely monitor drought triggers, and follow the master plan to form sound decisions and reduce impacts on the RDNO communities. Under Stage 1 restrictions, Greater Vernon Water customers can water their lawns on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday if their property has an odd address number, and Wednesday, Friday and Sunday if the property has an even number. There is no domestic or commercial outdoor watering on Monday and between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Automatic timer irrigation may operate between 12 a.m. to 6 a.m. Manual sprinklers (moved by hand) may be used between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. to 12 a.m. Drip irrigation may operate between 7 p.m. and 10 a.m. Customers using a watering can or hose with spring-loaded nozzle may water anytime.

How people are stealing water in Greater Vernon

By Charlotte Helston August 08, 2015 - 2:30 PM INFO-Tel Multimedia:
VERNON - The regional district is cracking down on water thieves. It’s come to the North Okanagan Regional District’s attention a number of people on the Greater Vernon Water system are bypassing water meters. The water utility keeps track of how much water goes into the system, and how much is used by consumers, and water quality manager Renee Clark says there’s been a noticeable volume of unaccounted for water. “Most water utilities will have some unaccounted for water due to leaks, firefighting use, public works – hydrant maintenance and water main flushing for water quality, water sampling and instrumentations,” Clark says. “(We’ve) gone through the exercise to account for where all the water is being used and we found there was still a gap.” Between tips from the public and investigation, the regional district discovered about two dozen customers have pipes installed which allow them to irrigate without the water being recorded by a meter. “If they are not paying for the water, they are stealing it,” Clark says. And while this type of thing has likely been going on for some time, the regional district now has new policies in place to enforce the rules. Finance manager Stephen Banmen says some of the bypasses — located on residential properties and hobby farms — are historic, having been installed before the meters went in, but notes others are believed to be intentional. “In the past our main tool was to shut the water off on the property line which is fairly dramatic,” Banmen says. “What we’ve done in the past year or two is work to make sure we have other tools available to deal with enforcement.” The regional district is sending letters to the properties in question, advising them of their options. The first is to install and pay for a meter pit, which would cost them about $1,000. If they refuse to do so, the regional district will impose a costly fee for unmetered water, which starts at $300 a quarter, and continues to rise substantially each quarter after that. “It’s a fairly punitive rate,” Banmen says. “There’s a huge incentive to becoming metered.” The regional district also has the ability to ticket people if they don’t comply, but that isn’t being considered yet. In addition to the roughly two dozen properties receiving letters, Banmen says a number of others are currently under investigation. “It’s a service paid for by everybody and we want to ensure there’s equity and fairness for all of our customers,” Banmen says.

Drought rating maxed out

by Nicholas Johansen CASTANET - Aug 5, 2015 / 4:09 pm
The B.C. government has extended a Level 4 drought rating to the Okanagan after months of dry, hot weather. In addition to the Level 4 rating, the province has taken the additional step of suspending fishing on the Okanagan River between Okanagan Lake and Osoyoos Lake until Sept. 30. This now brings the highest drought rating to the Similkameen, Nicola, South Thompson and Kettle regions in addition to the Okanagan. The government said in a release that further declines in water levels could affect people, industry, agriculture and fish stocks. It is urging residents to maximize water conservation, but water utilities have the final say on imposing restrictions on users. “Water restrictions are imposed depending on the body of water they’re looking at,” said Anna Sears, executive director at the Okanagan Basin Water Board. The raising of the drought level could result in more water restrictions. “It really remains to be seen,” said Sears. “It’s going to depend on how much storage your utility has. It’s going to depend on how the weather unfolds over the next month.” The long-term weather is looking to be very dry through August and September, according to Sears. “In response to Level 3 in the past couple weeks, the City of Kelowna put on watering restrictions,” Sears said. “Level 4 is much more serious. There isn’t a level 5, so we’re assuming there will be more watering restrictions from water utilities.” In Metro Vancouver, already under a Level 4 drought rating, the municipality has imposed strong watering restrictions, where residents can be fined $250 for watering lawns or hand washing their car.

Kelowna water utility finally adopts watering restrictions

July 29, 2015 - 9:00 PM By John McDonald Info-Tel News
KELOWNA - There is still no compelling reason to introduce watering restrictions but the City of Kelowna water utility is doing it anyway. “It’s based on supporting the provincial drought response, it's political, there is no technical reason reason,” Adrian Weaden says. The water quality supervisor says the decision was made this week to heed the provincial government’s request that all water providers voluntarily reduce consumption by 30 per cent. That request came in the face of the severe drought affecting the southern part of B.C. Many regions are experiencing level four drought conditions, including the Kamloops area, the Lower Mainland and all of Vancouver Island. Many Okanagan communities have already implemented some type of water restriction this summer. The Okanagan region is experiencing level three drought conditions and Weaden says the main source of water for the city owned water utility is still in good shape. “Okanagan Lake fluctuates almost a metre every year. You can characterize the lake level as being slightly below normal for this time of year. We are at about 13 centimetres above the drought years fo 2003 and 2009.” Kelowna’s other four water providers, Rutland Water Works, Glenmore Ellison Improvement District, Black Mountain Irrigation District and South East Kelowna Irrigation District, are all already on stage one water restrictions and have been for some time. Kelowna’s water utility is the only provider around Okanagan Lake that had no watering restrictions. Stage one water restrictions begin Tuesday, Aug. 4 and is based on your house address. Properties ending in odd numbers water on calendar days ending in odd numbers and properties ending in even numbers water on even numbered days. Automatic underground irrigation systems must be timed to run between midnight and 6 a.m. Manual sprinklers and hand watering must be done between 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. or 6 p.m. to midnight on the appointed day. Weaden says initial enforcement of the restriction will be based on complaints to bylaw and that violators would be educated, not ticketed at first. “It would take repeat violations to get a ticket at this point."

Kelowna restricts water use

by Wayne Moore CASTANET - Jul 29, 2015 / 3:54 pm
The City of Kelowna water utility is finally coming out with mandatory water restrictions. In support of the provincial drought response, the utility will begin implementing odd/even water restrictions for customers, beginning Aug. 4. This means properties with an address ending in an odd number can water on odd calendar days and those with an even address number can water on even calendar days. Automatic underground irrigation systems may run between midnight and 6 a.m. Manual sprinklers and watering by hose (hand watering) can occur between 6 a.m. and 11 a.m. or 6 p.m. and midnight on the scheduled odd/even day. Restrictions will remain in effect until Sept. 20.

“The restrictions for Kelowna water utility support the provincial water conservation goals and will help prepare us for any future water restrictions that may be required should the drought conditions continue year over year,” said utility services manager Kevin Van Vliet. “Odd/even watering is also effective in reducing peak water demand, which helps decrease the stress on our water system as a whole,” he said. The city says it has achieved significant progress in water conservation, giving the utility an edge in drought years. More than 15 years ago, residential and commercial water meters were installed and variable water rates were introduced to encourage conservation year round. The variable rates demonstrate the value of water to customers by increasing rates as water consumption rises. From 2003 to 2014, single-family residential water consumption decreased by 20 per cent per capita in the City of Kelowna utility area. While many water purveyors in the province are on mandatory odd/even restrictions year round that has never been the case in Kelowna. Van Vliet said it's something the city will look at once this season is over. "I don't know if that has been discussed in the past but that is a question that will be discussed after Sept. 30 and we can see what the impact has been on water demand," said Van Vliet. "One of the real advantages of odd/even is also a water distribution advantage. It smooths out the peaks so we'll be able to evaluate those and report them to council as well." More than half of Kelowna residents receive water from the city's water utility. The remainder have water supplied through one of the four water purveyors in the region. Each of those utilities has its own water restrictions.

No new water restrictions

by Darren Handschuh CASTANET- Jul 23, 2015 / 7:15 pm
Vernon residents will not have to cut back on their watering more than they are now, yet. Jennifer Miles, water sustainability co-ordinator with the Regional District of North Okanagan, said they are closely monitoring reservoir water levels, but as of Thursday, there was no need to introduce tighter restrictions. But that could change depending on the weather and if reservoir levels drop. “We're just barely grazing the Stage 1, Stage 2 border,” Miles said. Stage two would impose tighter restrictions such as less watering of lawns. Miles said the cooler weather has helped reduce water usage and people have been good at cutting back on their watering. The highest demands for water are from the agriculture sector. However, Miles said with the early heat wave many crops are ahead of schedule and that means the harvest will be ahead of schedule and once the harvest is in, water consumption lessens. “We're hoping that will help ease demand,” she said.

http://www.rdno.ca/docs/150715_Restriction_Trigger.pdf

Limit water usage, please

by Deborah Pfeiffer CASTANET- Jul 23, 2015 / 5:00 am
The Regional District Okanagan Similkameen is asking all residential, agricultural and commercial users of water across the district, on both private and public water systems, to reduce their overall water consumption by 30 per cent. This voluntary reduction may prevent the need for further mandatory restrictions in the future. This is in response to the provincial government extending its drought response level 3 to include all of the Okanagan as of Wednesday, July 15. This is due to concerns over the dangers posed to fish stocks from low stream flows and warming water temperatures. Additionally, fishing has been suspended in all streams and rivers throughout the South Okanagan which includes the Similkameen drainage. Level 3 means conditions are becoming very dry and potentially serious ecosystem or socio-economic impacts are possible or imminent, or these impacts already occurring. Emphasis continues to be on voluntary conservation but increased water restrictions may be imposed by water service providers.

Lake/Reservoir Levels Being Measured

Posted on 7/22/2015 by Ron Manz 107.5 KISSFM
Greater Vernon residents may find out as early as Thursday if tougher water restrictions may be put in place. The Okanagan Basin Water Board has asked all valley residents to reduce their water consumption by 30% currently to help prevent a level 4 drought in the Okanagan. Regional District of North Okanagan inspectors will be measuring reservoir and lake levels today (Wednesday) according to Water Sustainability Coordinator Jennifer Miles. "Basically what we are doing right now is looking week-to-week when we go up to our reservoirs to see where we're at before we make any further decisions on changing our restrictions stages." Miles says we are currently at a mid-point in stage one water storage levels. "We haven't hit the stage two level yet, but we are watching that very closesly in case our demand spikes. We're hopeful. There was a bit of cooler weather there that helped our demands a little bit."
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Kelowna water utility may soon be forced to restrict use

July 21, 2015 - 11:03 AM By John McDonald INFO-TEL Multimedia
KELOWNA - As drought-like conditions persist throughout the province people are being asked to cut back on water use, which means water restrictions could be around the corner for Kelowna water utility customers, who have not yet faced restrictions this summer. The province has declared a level three drought in the Okanagan and is sending out a letter to water providers and local governments up and down the lake asking them to voluntarily reduce consumption by 30 per cent. Kelowna has five water providers within its boundaries and all except the customers of the Kelowna water utility have been on stage one watering restrictions since at least April. An unconfirmed report has the four other water providers — Glenmore Ellison, Black Mountain, South East Kelowna and Rutland — soon moving to stage two restrictions. Gord Ivans, chairman of the Kelowna Joint Water Committee, was not immediately available for comment.

The city-owned water utility, which draws its water from Okanagan Lake and services customers primarily in the urban part of Kelowna, is the lone utility around the lake where no watering restrictions yet apply. “We draw from the lake and the lake is in good shape. There are no restrictions because we needed a technical reason to do it and quite frankly, there was none,” utility planning manager Andrew Reeder says. “I can’t speak to the political side."

The Okanagan Basin Water Board is calling on its members, including Kelowna, to abide by the call for reductions, executive director Anna Warwick Sears says. “That would be neighbourly for the people on the lake intakes to get their residents to cut back. It gets confusing for the public if everyone has different water restrictions,” she says. Warwick Sears says efforts made now to reduce consumption from all water sources, including Okanagan Lake, will help communities avoid further restrictions down the road. She says the drought situation the province is facing is unprecedented. “We’ve never had this kind of valley-wide drought. We’re moving into level four all over B.C. They’ve never had to shut down entire rivers before. It’s happening so fast, the province doesn’t really have its communications stream set up." Other communities, including Vernon and Penticton, have also placed restrictions on watering, or asked residents to cut back. Fishing has also been restricted on some rivers in the province because of low water levels. To contact the reporter for this story, email John McDonald at jmcdonald@infonews.ca or call 250-808-0143. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

Latest Duteau Creek Reservoir Level Chart.

Courtesy of Coldstreamer

2004-2013 Duteau Reservoir Storage

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Possible loss of revenue IF 10% reduction in Residential Watering is achieved in the 3rd quarter can be found at http://vernonblog.blogspot.ca/2015/07/by-richard-rolke-vernon-morning-star.html

Tougher Water Restrictions Implemented

Posted on 7/10/2015 by Ron Manz 107.5 KISSFM

The parched conditions were are experiencing at the moment has forced a local water company to impose stricter restrictions on its clientele. " We are issuing a further water restrictions notice effective immediately due to the extreme drought and fire conditions." states Terry Wong of Adventure Bay Waterworks. "That means no irrigation systems! Refrain from using all irrigation systems. Hand watering will be the only thing allowed between the hours of 5 a.m. and 11 a.m. The heightened water restrictions affect roughly 300 properties.