We’ve now pushed into the most severe drought rating for Metro Vancouver and some other parts of B.C.’s parched south coast, with no real relief in sight. Much of the region is now at level five, right at the top of the province’s scale — the Lower Mainland basin, including Squamish, along with the Sunshine Coast and western Vancouver Island. The rest of the Island, the region stretching from the Fraser Valley to areas north of Pemberton, the Kettle Basin east of Kelowna, and the entire northeastern corner of B.C. is just one level below, at level four.
Drought, water scarcity conditions affect B.C.
Drought and water scarcity continues to affect the west coast, south coast and northeastern areas of B.C. that have experienced little to no rainfall over the past five weeks with continued dry weather in the forecast. Areas under Drought Level 4 include the Fort Nelson basin, the Sunshine Coast basin, Lower Mainland basin, and the east and west Vancouver Island basins. At Drought Level 4, conditions are extremely dry and adverse effects to socio-economic or ecosystem values are likely.