Vancouver water restrictions could continue well into the fall
CBC News | Posted: August 19, 2015 6:53 PM | Last Updated: August 19, 2015
Hot, dry conditions are expected to last throughout the fall and winter
A new forecast that predicts more hot, dry conditions in British Columbia has Metro Vancouver water officials looking at extending water restrictions past the usual end date.
"Certainly the warmth and the dry conditions, which many of us do not want to hear about here, [will continue] as we go into the fall and also the winter," said Brett Anderson with AccuWeather.
AccuWeather predicts the province will have temperatures one to two degrees higher than normal on the coast, and three to four degrees higher than normal in the Interior.
Anderson said the conditions are being caused by warm water off our coast — known as "The Blob" — combined with one of the strongest El Ninos on record.
Watering restrictions in Metro Vancouver typically run until the end of September, but Darrell Mussatto, chair of Metro Vancouver's utilities commission and mayor of the City of North Vancouver, said they may be extended.
"This might be an unusual year," said Mussatto. "We could go right through the end of October."
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Mussatto said as long as consumption levels remain consistent it's unlikely the region will enter Stage 4 water restrictions.
Reservoir levels for Metro Vancouver are were at 58 per cent as of Aug. 16.