Drought conditions in B.C. are easing slightly in the northeast, but worsening in the southern interior and southeast.
"The message is that we all have a critical role in conserving our water this summer, especially in areas where we're facing water scarcity," said Water, Land and Resource Stewardship Minister Randene Neill in a provincial drought and wildfire update on Monday, July 14.
David Campbell of the River Forecast Centre said snow ended early and melt happened quicker than normal this year, resulting in low water levels in many areas.
This has led to "extremely low flow" in some rivers, particularly in the southern parts of the province. Campbell said two-thirds of river gauges now read below normal, with 40 per cent of them below 10 per cent of normal.
Things are looking better in the northeast of the province 鈥� which is in a multi-year drought and had a bad early fire season this year 鈥� but Campbell cautioned that short-term gains have not yet made up for the long-term deficit.
"While some of the recent rainfall has been beneficial, we really need more sustained, longer-term, on the order of months or even a season, of wet weather, to really make up the deficit that we've seen over the long range," he said.
Neill is encouraging people to start conserving water now to avoid restrictions later in the summer.
"For example, you know, if you're washing your fruit or vegetables, don't do it in the sink, do it in a bowl and then use that bowl and go dump it on your tomatoes or raspberries," she said. "Don't wash your car every weekend. Don't water your lawn every day."
Despite this, a BC Wildfire Service official struck an optimistic tone, saying that the province is doing well for this time of year compared to recent fire seasons.
"We are seeing that we're having success in suppression, which is a good sign in B.C. for mid-July," said Cliff Chapman, BC Wildfire Service's director of wildfire operations
In the rest of the province, the BC Wildfire Service has been successful with initial attack efforts so far this season.
"We still had over 500 fires in B.C. this year, but fortunately, we have been able to get on those quickly," Chapman said.
As conditions are beginning to change, including a forecast outflow system on the coast that has the potential to cause dangerous fire conditions, Chapman remains confident.
"We have a significant amount of resources available for those pockets that may see a fire like we saw this weekend in and around the Princeton and lower Similkameen area, so that we can get on those fires aggressively, and we can support them with additional resources," he said.
Province changing how it monitors drought
B.C. is changing how it measures drought conditions, so online mapping tools may be difficult to compare with recent months, and the situation may appear to have improved when it has not.
These changes bring the province in line with the North American Drought Monitor, a cooperative effort between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. The new system separates drought from impacts, such as water scarcity, which can be driven by human factors, including elevated usage, in addition to weather.
It also allows the province to localize water scarcity issues to deal with shortages more quickly by creating targeted restrictions.
"While drought is a naturally occurring period of abnormally dry conditions anywhere, water scarcity is when there's not enough water to meet the needs of people and ecosystems," Neill said
Severe level 5 drought conditions will now be less prevalent on maps because they are designated a number based on a comparison to the historical record for that area. The level 5 designation will now only be given when conditions are comparable to a once-in-a-100-year event.
Provincial drought mapping is available at the online .
