Boundary Region Drought Update from Kristina Anderson, RDKB
With our region’s cooler spring temperatures and increased precipitation, we have seen a delay in the drop in water levels this summer showing us normal and higher than normal water levels during early summer. That being said, we are now starting to see the impacts from the recent hot and dry July. Attached is a quick summary of conditions here in the Kettle River Watershed. One change this year is that the Province has split the Kettle River watershed into 5 separate watersheds (BC Drought Portal) as they felt concerns in the Kettle were significant enough that more details in their reporting was required. In this process, they have grouped together Grand Forks and Christina Lake – this is because the water level monitoring for this portion of the watershed is through the Kettle River station at Laurier. Do you see a concern with CL and GF being represented in one polygon? The Province is interested in hearing whether separating the Kettle River into these 5 polygons ends up being useful/helpful. Of course, if we don’t experience much of a drought this year, we may not know. Something to keep in mind as we go through the next month.
I am working on trying to improve the KettleRiver.ca website and will be including links to these updates under “Local Drought Conditions”. I have uploaded a short review of the drought experience from last year. This can be seen via pdf or as a recording. I will be providing information on current conditions to this page, with another drought update (similar to the one attached) planned for end of August unless conditions warrant otherwise.
To read the August 8th Drought Report in its entirety, click here.
As always, any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Sincerely,
Kristina Andersen
RDKB Watershed Planner
