GRCA calls for conservation
Posted Jul 21, 2011 01:15:11 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Grand River Conservation Authority is calling on area residents to limit their water consumption.
The GRCA’s “Low Water Response Team” says outdoor activities such as lawn watering and car washing are of particular concern.
“We’d just like people to take a moment to think about their outdoor water use in particular,” says GRCA spokesperson Dave Schultz. “Make sure they’re abiding by their municipal bylaws and being careful with the water they’re using.”
In the Whiteman’s Creek watershed, which includes parts of Brant and Oxford County, major water users are asked to voluntarily reduce water consumption by 10 per cent. That part of the watershed is home to tobacco, ginseng, fruit and vegetable farms that often depend on irrigation at this time of year.
Schultz acknowledges that farmers could have a hard time honouring the request to cut back by as much as 10 per cent but he believes there are steps that can be taken to reduce water consumption.
“They can work out a program with their neighbours so that they take their water at different times in order to reduce the demand at one particular time, they can pump at a lower rate for a longer period of time, they can ensure that their equipment is in proper working condition and not leaking water and they can, if possible, do more of their irrigation in the evening when there is less evaporation,” Schultz explains.
While Whiteman’s Creek is an area of concern, Schultz says our wet spring allowed the GRCA’s seven reservoirs serving the Conestogo, Grand and Speed Rivers to maintain high enough water levels to to meet the needs of municipal water treatment plants and sewage treatment plants.
“We’ve got plenty of water to keep those rivers flowing,” Schultz notes. “It’s the rivers that don’t have reservoirs, such as the Nith River or Whiteman’s Creek, that we have to pay particular attention to at this time of year.”
The only significant rainfall recorded by the GRCA this month was a storm that moved through the Fergus-Guelph area on July 3, dropping about 15 to 25 mm of rain.
But areas south of those communities have seen only a few millimetres of rain. The average rainfall for July is about 80 millimetres.
