Despite the hot and dry conditions this summer, the community’s watering restrictions remain at the Stage 1 level.
“Our water storage is still in good shape,” said Devon van der Meulen, manager of utilities for the municipality. “There’s still lots of water.”
He added that as of last Thursday, Isintok Lake was at 96.5 per cent of fill capacity, while Thirsk Lake was at 73 per cent of full capacity.
Summerland’s water system has a total capacity of 14,136 megalitres and municipal staff are continuing to monitor the conditions and the water supply.
Earlier this month, municipal staff urged Summerlanders to reduce their water consumption.
At the time, consumption exceeded 70 megalitres a day. At present, consumption is between 50 and 60 megalitres a day.
Under Stage 1 water restrictions, residential watering is permitted three days a week. Stage 2 restrictions limit watering to two days a week, while Stage 3 restrictions allow watering once a week.
Under Stage 4 restrictions, lawn watering is prohibited, as is the exterior washing of buildings, windows, parking lots, driveways and sidewalks.
A further measure, Stage 5 restrictions, is used for a severe drought or a catastrophic water supply contamination or a failure of the water system.
Elsewhere in the province, extreme drought conditions have resulted in watering restrictions in other communities.
At present, the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations has declared a Level 4 drought — the highest drought category — for Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland, Sunshine Coast and Fraser Valley. The Thompson, Nicola, Okanagan and Similkameen regions are categorized as in a Level 3 drought.