The Sooke Lake Reservoir is full, which is good news – even if it is coming much later than usual.
“For the last about 20 years we have tracked the reservoir levels from month to month, and usually the reservoir fills up by either early to late January,” said Alicia Fraser, the Capital Regional District’s general manager of infrastructure and water services.
“There’s been less than a handful of years whereby the end of January the reservoir hasn’t been filled.”
This year the reservoir filled on Feb. 26, nearly a month later than usual.
“We were quite a bit lower than we historically have been. We were starting to plan the measures that we would need to take, potentially looking at increasing our water conservation measures throughout the summer.”
Each season the reservoir fills through the winter due to precipitation and runoff from surrounding water catchments.
The late fill follows an exceptionally dry winter in B.C., as the Pacific region received less than 60 per cent of normal precipitation, with moderate drought and abnormally dry conditions recorded across the Island.
It's a trend that seems to be becoming more common.
“In the last five years, this has become more frequent that we see the reservoir filling up later and later,” said Fraser, with most of the reservoirs late fills coming during that time.
“Three of those have been in the last five years and it is something that we are keeping a close eye on as we look at the changing climate.”
The Sooke Lake Reservoir, located north of Sooke and west of the Malahat, has been the CRD’s primary source of drinking water since 1915 and makes up 90 per cent of the region’s total water storage. It contains a total volume of 160.32 million cubic metres of water, with 92.7 million available for the water supply. In more visual terms, that is enough water to fill an Olympic swimming pool 37 times over.
While the region is fortunate that heavy rains were able to bring the reservoir back to capacity, the late filling was cause for concern from the CRD, as Fraser says it was “getting into the cautionary range, not that it was an imminent threat but it was lower than it had been in past years.”
Fraser assured that while the late fills are “probably not a good thing” it's not a problem if it gets filled before consumption ramps up in the summertime.
If the reservoir were not to be filled by that time, the CRD would need to implement new restrictions on water usage through the summer. Such restrictions could begin with increasing public water conservation before May 1, when restrictions typically begin.
Following that, the CRD would have to consider implementing stage 2 or 3 restrictions, which would further restrict summer water use by reducing or prohibiting discretionary activities. These could include activities like washing driveways and sidewalks, along with more recreational activities like filling hot tubs and pools or even watering plants and gardens.
A changing climate, along with increasing rates of development throughout the CRD, has prompted the water authority to revisit its strategic plan for water usage in the region, initially developed in 2017.
“This plan focuses more on how we move forward with implementation, how we use pilot projects to look at changes in water quality, and how we move forward with these big infrastructure projects.”
The plan to guide water usage through to 2055 is out for consultation. It does acknowledge that the Sooke Lake Reservoir likely cannot meet the region's water needs forever, with the earliest year the Leech Water Supply area may be needed to supplement the reservoir being in 2045.
The CRD is inviting residents to give their input on the plan, through a survey that can be completed until March 31.
More information on the strategic plan, and the future of the region's water can be found at https://getinvolved.crd.bc.ca/regional-water-supply-strategic-plan.
