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City reduced water consumption over summer: staff

The city managed to reduce water consumption by roughly 32 million Imperial gallons this summer.
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Credit: Pixabay

Water levels at the Phillips Reservoir were at or near full pool capacity for much of this past spring and summer season, which city staff attributes to residents following various water restrictions.

In an administration report to city council on Monday, Oct. 21, staff reported that the Phillips Reservoir treated approximately 644 million Imperial gallons between April 1 - Sept. 28, 2024. Over the same time period last year in 2023, the reservoir treated 676 million Imperial gallons.

That means the city was able to decrease it's consumption by roughly 32 million Imperial gallons this past summer over last year's summer — a five per cent reduction that equates to roughly 59 full Olympic-sized swimming pools.

In terms of enforcement, City bylaw officers opened 126 files regarding watering outside of water restrictions and out of those files, six tickets were issued for repeat offenders. 

But it wasn't just residents reducing their water usage.

The city says it adjusted operations, such as  cutting back hours on spray parks, irrigating priority fields and cutting back on dust control.

The city also didn't conduct Unidirectional Flushing (UDF) for water quality, however, much of the system had been done over the previous two years.

Further, the city secured a secondary source to provide water for spring cleanup operations along Cranbrook St. N. In total Public Works only needed to use three truckloads from the City’s water supply during the completion of the cleanup, where we typically used upwards of 15 truckloads of water.

On the play fields, the city concentrated watering efforts on the active areas of play, while reducing water use in less critical spaces, such as the rough areas and
pathways, to reduce unnecessary waste. Throughout the summer, the city also continued transitioning irrigations system to a central control for greater efficiency.

Earlier in 2024, staff expressed concern that the snowpack was roughly 52 per cent of normal, based on the BC Hydro weather station located on Moyie Mountain.

Additional concerns included data showing creek flows that supply water to the Phillips Reservoir were experiencing a 20 per cent reduction compared to average flow rates. 



Trevor Crawley

About the Author: Trevor Crawley

Trevor Crawley has been a reporter with the Cranbrook Townsman and Black Press in various roles since 2011.
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