Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
Minor coastal flooding is possible this weekend due to elevated ocean water levels on B.C.’s South Coast. Environment Canada issued a special weather statement for the region early Saturday morning. “(A) low barometric pressure will combine with a period of high astronomical tide to produce elevated water levels (Saturday) and Sunday,” Environment Canada staff said in the statement.
About $166,000 in fines were issued to Metro Vancouver residents who did not abide by restrictions put in place this summer to try to conserve water. Of the 21 municipalities, one electoral area and one Treaty First Nation that make up Metro Vancouver, more than half issued fines ranging from $100 to $500 to residents who flouted water-restriction rules put in place Aug 4.
Around 670 workers who operate Metro Vancouver's five wastewater treatment plants, monitor air quality and build infrastructure stopped work Monday and are picketing as they seek a new collective agreement from their employer. "Our members are dedicated to their jobs, and deserve a collective agreement that reflects the service they provide to Metro Vancouver," said the Greater Vancouver Regional District Employees' Union (GVRDEU) in a release.
“Watering is an ongoing activity,” said Chris Reid, executive gardener with Community Garden Builders. “Some gardeners post signs that say ‘please water me’ to invite neighbours to help.” With much of B.C. in the grip of drought, Metro Vancouver reservoirs, which supply the region’s tap water, were at their lowest level for September in a decade. Rain at the end of the month and into October has since increased levels to about the same as 2021.
Metro Vancouver residents won't be able to water their lawns starting Friday as the region brings in new water restrictions to conserve drinking water. The region is activating Stage 2 watering restrictions starting Aug 4, as much of the province continues to experience hot, dry temperatures and significant drought conditions. The regional district says this is the first time restrictions have been raised beyond Stage 1 since 2015 when there was a low snowpack and dry conditions.
Hundreds of Vancouver residents have violated water restrictions, despite a conservation warning from the B.C. government as drought conditions intensify. Since water restrictions came into effect May 1, Vancouver has issued 287 $250 fines for breaking water restriction laws for a total of $71,750, according to city staff Saturday. On top of that the city has issued 395 warnings or letters to residents to advise them of unnecessary water usage.
Watering restrictions begin for the Metro Vancouver region on May 1. The restrictions, which are set to be in place until Oct. 15, come into force after the area got its first blast of summer-like weather over the weekend. According to Metro Vancouver, water use increases 50 per cent during the summer months, likely due to lawn watering. Starting this week, people whose addresses are even numbers are permitted to water their lawns on Saturday mornings, while residents at odd-numbered addresses can water on Sunday mornings.
High streamflow advisories have been issued for two more regions as heavy rain sweeps over British Columbia’s southern Interior. B.C.’s River Forecast Centre added the advisories for the Similkameen and Okanagan regions after previously issuing bulletins for all of Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast and Metro Vancouver through to the Fraser Valley.
Metro Vancouver is warning its residents and businesses that water usage for lawns will be restricted beginning next month. Starting May 1, seasonal regulations that limit lawn watering to once per week will come into effect in an effort to conserve the region’s drinking water for the coming hot and dry months. “We are increasingly seeing variable weather patterns due to climate change, and we can’t always count on rainfall to replenish our water supply when we need it,” said George V. Harvie, Metro Vancouver board of directors chair.
Nearly six metres below a South Delta residential area, workers are making upgrades to a water storage reservoir that holds millions of litres of drinking water. Work at the Pebble Hill reservoir began in the fall of 2021 to prepare for natural disasters in the future. Metro Vancouver has been steadily upgrading its reservoirs since the '90s to ensure it can provide water to the region following the "Big One" — a megathrust earthquake expected to hit the B.C. coast someday.
As the financial costs of climate change climb, experts and governments are quickly coming to the consensus that man-made structures won't be enough to protect coastal communities. For biologist Dan Stewart, the answer is obvious, and on a recent overcast day, he was looking at it: from the edge of the Boundary Bay dike, a more than 200 metre-thick band of salt marsh reached out to the sea.
An estimated 80 per cent of B.C.’s glaciers are forecast to completely disappear and the impacts will trickle well beyond less beautiful vistas for British Columbians to look at. But any action to fight climate change can nonetheless help save glaciers in B.C.’s northern coastal mountains, one expert says. Brian Menounos, professor of geography at the University of Northern British Columbia and a Canada Research Chair in Glacier Change, recently co-authored a study in publication Science, with research suggesting implications for tourism, watersheds and public safety.
Imperial Oil's dam on Sasamat Lake has been in place for a century, but the company says it's now considering its removal. The decision could have wide-ranging effects on the Port Moody, B.C., lake, which is a popular destination for Metro Vancouver residents. "We really don't have a need for the dam anymore,'' said Ali Tejpar, project manager of the Sasamat Lake Dam Project.
Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart and the city's top bureaucrat have found themselves at the centre of the newest chapter of a multi-million dollar legal battle between Metro Vancouver and an international construction company. Metro Vancouver has filed a notice of application in the Supreme Court of British Columbia against Acciona — a company it fired from the building of a $500 million wastewater treatment plant.
On Sunday, October 30, Vancouver woke up to the sounds and sights of rain. Some of it was pleasant, like the pattering on our windows. Others are less pleasant, like ankle-swallowing giant puddles popping around downtown Vancouver. Environment Canada has a rainfall warning in effect for Metro Vancouver, and we’re going to get up to 50 mm of rain today. Already, in the early morning, it’s starting to collect in puddles, making it hard to navigate the city as a pedestrian.
Metro Vancouver's last surviving glacier, a source of local fresh water, will disappear in less than 30 years, scientists say. Scientists say climate change is accelerating the demise of the Coquitlam Glacier. The ice pack, located 40 kilometres north of Vancouver, sits on a mountain more than 1,400 metres high. During the warmer months, runoff from what's left of the glacier provides about two percent of the water in the Coquitlam Reservoir. Although not a significant source of water, for scientists surveying its decline, the glacier's disappearing act is a symptom of the stress climate change is putting on local sources of fresh water.
There’s more fallout from the unseasonably warm and dry weather that’s been gripping B.C.’s Lower Mainland. Metro Vancouver is asking residents and businesses to cut back on how much water they use amid ongoing drought conditions. Officials are keeping a close eye on the region's three water supplies, the Capilano, Seymour, and Coquitlam reservoirs.
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.
Metro Vancouver is embarking on one of its largest projects ever that will transform the Iona Island Wastewater Treatment Plant. The $9.9 billion multi-year program includes construction of a new tertiary treatment facility and a range of ecological restoration and off-site projects that will improve the connection between infrastructure, the community and the environment.
