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[H3]Extreme water shortage hits B.C. tourist town[/H3] [P class=timeStamp]Updated Wed. Aug. 30 2006 9:03 AM ET
[P class=storyAttributes]CTV.ca News Staff
An extreme water shortage in the Vancouver Island resort town of Tofino has prompted calls for commercial businesses to shut down as the final long weekend of the summer approaches.
Water is so scarce in the tourist hot spot and community of 1,500 that there are worries there wouldn't be enough water if a fire were to hit the town.
"That's why the panic's on," Mayor John Fraser said Tuesday afternoon.
The B.C. government said it's monitoring the situation, and said hospitals, seniors' homes and residences won't run out of water during the shortage.
Nevertheless, the District of Tofino issued an order to move to Level 5 regulations -- Level 6, the highest level, means a complete shutoff of taps.
Tourists would normally be coming from all over the world to enjoy Tofino's spectacular scenery around the Pacific Rim National Park and stay at the world-renowned resorts, including the posh Wikckaninnish Inn this Labour Day long weekend.
Now, businesses are scrambling to call their clients, telling them to stay away as they're being ordered to shut down by Friday.
"We've had six and a half weeks now without any rain," Leif Pedersen, administrator for the District of Tofino, told CTV Vancouver.
Added Fraser: "Now we're asking the businesses, essentially all commercial businesses, to close down until it rains."
Tofino is located in a coastal rainforest that gets more than three metres of rain every year. But Pederson said high demand and low supply means the levels are low in district's main reservoir on Meares Island.
Pedersen said fire trucks will be bringing in water to top up the Lovekin Reservoir at the south end of the district. He's also looking at ways to truck in more water, including from Ucluelet, about a 30-minute drive from Tofino.
Municipal staff issues a public notice Tuesday, calling on local businesses to cut back on water or shut down.
"The water shortage has become extremely severe,'' the notice reads.
"All lodging, food service businesses are asked to shut down prior to Friday, September 1st, 2006 until further notice. Other commercial water users must not consume any water whatsoever."
The notice said priority will be given to continued residential use.
"We're going to try to save what water we have to keep residences with water as long as we can," Mayor Fraser told CTV Vancouver.
The order will stay in effect until there is significant rain in the area, and would affect hotels, restaurants, bars, retailers and bed-and-breakfasts.
According to Coun. Derek Shaw, the district needs at least two days of rain before businesses can open again.
He said Tofino has been vulnerable for a long time because the last significant water-supply upgrade took place in 1991 -- and nothing has been done to add capacity since then.
Whaylon Arthur, a Tofino resident, told CP that the district should have known this was coming and warned people sooner.
"It's a bit drastic and it's a bit panicky," he said.
But Pedersen said the water shortage became more severe than was expected.
The municipality implemented Level 4 water regulations last week, meaning residents were prohibited from washing vehicles or watering lawns.
Boil order
For now, Tofino has switched to a back-up water source, Ginnard Creek, for residents' use only -- but that water is under a boil-water advisory.
"We'll be testing it in, I believe, in four spots each day," said the mayor, "and if it comes back in good enough shape then they'll (call) the boil-water warning off."
In December 2005, the Community Services Ministry said Tofino was eligible for grant money to upgrade its water system after the district experienced low water levels in the summer of 2004.
A joint federal, provincial and municipal water system improvement project -- estimated to cost about $6 million -- is scheduled for completion in 2007.
With files from the Canadian Press and a report by CTV Vancouver's Michelle Simick
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What the F***!!? This is scary stuff!
