Water Shortage Plan Wildfire Situation

Council Q&A

This winter’s snowpack in the Harvey and Magnesia basins was 15% of average. There is now no snow left up there.

No surface runoff from rain has reached the creeks since late May.

There is no “aquifer” in the sense of an underground river. From steady flowrates, we believe creeks are now being fed by the relatively constant pressure of groundwater in rock fissures.

July 15 the Province increased drought condition level for Lower Mainland to Level 4 (Extremely Dry), the highest level.

Magnesia watershed, July 15 6 a.m. (Lions Bay SAR)

Harvey Ridge, July 15 8 p.m. (Lions Bay SAR)

There are no reservoirs, dams or lakes up there.

We rely on streamflow in Harvey and Magnesia Creeks.

Two modern plants draw water from the creeks and store 1-2 days worth of treated water in 6 tanks.

Harvey Intake

UV treatment at Harvey Plant

Lions Bay’s approx. 1400 residents this month are consuming 900-1,300 liters per person per day.

GVRD’s 2013 peak week demand was 655 ℓ/p/d.

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ayVillage of Lions Bay Daily Water Production (Usage + Leakage)

From Harvey (left scale) From Magnesia (left scale) Per nominal user (right scale, 3-period average)

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Lions Bay Water Supply & Demand 2014 supply

2015 supply

2015 demand

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Lions Bay Water Supply & Demand 2014 precip (right axis)

2015 precip (right axis)

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We can’t influence supply on the mountain, but we can reduce demand to eke out that supply.

We’ve been fixing leaks for a year, and the effect is noticeable.

Now we need to reduce our use outdoors, and indoors.

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LEVEL 1: date-based (June 1 – Sep. 30)

Irrigation 3 times/week.LEVEL 2: Supply-Demand ratio at 200%

Irrigation 1/week and watering by hand. No washing of hard surfaces (cars/boats by hand).LEVEL 3: Supply-Demand ratio at 125%

No outdoor use.

The entire Village needs to participate to make the water last. We must report inadvertent or careless outdoor water use to municipal reception and Bylaw Officer.

Bylaw Officer’s hours increase effective tomorrow:Tuesday and Thursday: 3pm - 7pmFriday, Saturday, Sunday: 2pm - 10:30pm

The less we all get used to using every day, the longer the supply will suffice to keep us under Level 3.

Under more extreme shortage, if we can still keep water in the mains (which leak 60,000 - 75,000 GPD), so much the better.

If we use more than the creeks can supply on a rolling 36-48 hour basis, we are very quickly in trouble.

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EASYShort showers, shallow baths.Minimize flushing, clothes washing, dishwashing.Lo-flo showerheads, $16-$35, 2.5 GPM.

LONGER TERMLo-flo dual-flush toilets (1.6 gal. full-flush, 1.0 gal. half).On-demand hot water and recirc systems.

Added benefit of reducing load on septic system

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Bad: gardens and routines suffer under Level 3 conservation. Level 3 is triggered by Supply-Demand ratio of 125%. Keep demand down, we don’t have to go to Level 3.

Worse: rolling outages and Cease All Use alerts, constant Boil Water Advisory.

Worst: water in tanks runs out, the water mains empty (the network alone takes 98,000 USG), tanks can’t refill fast enough to avoid long-term shutdown until flushing and hyper-chlorination can take place.

SEVERITY LEVEL 1 (1 JUNE – 30 SEP), PREPARATION: MUNICIPAL ACTIONS

DONE: Repurpose Oceanview and Brunswick Tanks as fire reserves. Reconfigure water network to balance demand. Install 10,000 USG raw water buffer tanks at Harvey. Institute Outdoor Water Use bylaw. Communications: place draft OWU conservation level signage, OWU information in tax mailings, increase Bylaw Officer hours with emphasis on water conservation compliance, install demo rain barrel unit at the Hall, publish water consumption stats daily.

PENDING: Reinvestigate temporary pipeline to treatment plant from Alberta Creek. Acquire curbside non-potable water barrels. Contract standby portable toilet units. Contract 3,000 gal. shuttle tanker. Pre-contract 10,000 gal. reserve tanker. Source outside non-potable water sources for curbside service. Hold discussions with EMBC, VCH, and FLNRO. Pre-arrange facilities at Gleneagles Community Centre. Communications: contract AM radio station for alerts, contract Audex-type phone outcall system, contract EComm for interoperability between municipal and provincial radios, install remaining OWUconservation level signage to revised design, install signage on demo rain barrel unit at the Hall, install siren at Fire Hall, recruit & train Water Ambassadors.

LEVEL SCENARIO MUNICIPAL ACTIONS

2 Supply-Demand Factor < 2.0

Conservation Level 2 Water Ambassadors provide education and observationPublic Works captures water from the daily water sampling program for non-potable reuse

3 Supply-Demand Factor <= 1.25

Conservation Level 3

LEVEL SCENARIO MUNICIPAL ACTIONS

4 Combinations of tanks reaching max. levels or emptying

Production configured to utilise streamflow that DOES exist: batch-mode, isolating plant outputs, trickle filling as available, etc.

5 Water mainsapproaching outage

3 long siren blasts every half-hour between 8 a.m.-8 p.m. for “Cease All Use” 3 short blasts every 10 minutes for an hour for “Resume Level 3”

LEVEL SCENARIO MUNICIPAL ACTIONS

6 Both main tanks empty, recovery likely within 12 hours

Advise EMBC, VCH and Coastal Fire. Mayor deals with mediaCommence distributing curbside water barrelsIssue alerts: outage imminent, BWO if and when water intermittently returns

7 Both main tanks empty, no recovery within 12 hours

Advise EMBC, VCH and Coastal FirePut fire tanker(s) on standbyIssue residence alerts to close service valve, cut hot water heaters, shutdown septic plantsCommence roving water service once service connections run dry. Distribute portable toilets.

Close water service valve, switch off hot water heaters, shut down septic treatment plants if no flow planned.

Cooking and drinking from self-provided bottled water.

Toilets filled by residents by bucket, from municipality-supplied curbside non-potable water barrels.

Dishwashing by hand using boiled non-potable water.

Bathing at Gleneagles Community Center (TBC), laundry at coin-ops.

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Fire moves uphill and on the wind, and will likely come from the highway, or hiker campfires, or over the ridge.

Air dropped retardant can’t be used in water catchments; (sea)water drops are dangerous to property and personnel. Damage in the water catchments will compromise the water intakes below for years.

Use FireSmart principles on residences. Clear deadfall NOW. NO FIRES, NO FLAME, NO SMOKING in the forests.

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Running the water mains dry is defined as the worst case water scenario, so the protocol is to keep the water mains operating.

With the water mains on, hydrants are operational and normal fireflow of 500 gal./min can be used for offensive firefighting with interior attack.

Once hydrants are out, LBFR and mutual-assist partners switch to shuttling water from reserves for defensive firefighting with no interior attack.

LEVEL SCENARIO MUNICIPAL ACTIONS

8 Fire impacting the Village

State of Local Emergency. Siren sounds for 1 min. every 5 mins. Be prepared for evacuation. Mass-phone outcalls and alerts on AM radio. Fire response by LBFR and Provincial authorities, including but not limited to firebreaks, air drops and evacuation.

9 Evacuation Fire and Police will order an evacuation street by street.Siren will sound continuously.

Siren for 1 minute every 5 minutes indicates a fire threatening the Village. Be prepared to evacuate (all clear is 3 short blasts every 10 mins for an hour).

Preparation:Take photos of house contentsKnow what you’re going to take. Prepack in totes:Paper and data files, documents, photo-albumsClothing: walking shoes/boots, overwear, underwearToiletries, medicinesFlashlights, battery radioNothing that can be bought again: books, food, appliances, most clothes.

Fire and Police will order an evacuation street by street.Siren will sound continuously.

Put pets and kids in car(s) first.Check on neighbours.If there’s time, pack your list, plus PCs and laptops, all phones, cash, ID, wallets.

If the evacuation is short, be prepared to camp in the car for a while. If long, be prepared to stay out of the Village.

1. Looking to Province to help fund a multi-year study to correlate streamflow resulting snowpack (plus cloud cover, rainfall, wind, temperature and sun, soil moisture).

2. The $120,000 Infrastructure Master Plan (contract signed July 17) will consider recomissioning Alberta Intake, a barge-supplied fresh water pipeline from sea-level to one plant, a standby desalination plant and more.

3. Much more....

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Infrastructure Committee: technical input from residents Greig Garland, Tony Greville, Brian Ulrich and elected members Chair Fred Bain, Jim Hughes, Karl Buhr, with valuable support from Villagers Ron Wilke, Doug Pollock, Ed Langford, Mark Betteridge, Louis Petersen, Jon Povill and more.

Indispensable support from staff: Fire Chief Andrew Oliver, Public Works Manager Nikii Hoglund, Office Coordinator Shawna Gilroy.

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The situation is unprecedented. We don’t know what will happen. It may last through October before rains return.We may be running on multi-year stores of groundwater, so this is not a one-time issueAwareness and participation are paramount to keeping the water network operating, because not operating is a big deal.Please add yourself to the Village email list. Plans will evolve, and we need you to be informed. Signup sheets at the door.

Water Shortage Plan

Wildfire risk

Annual Report