Water Shortage/drought shuts Rainforest tourist town Down
Pastor Dale Morgan
Water Shortage/drought shuts Rainforest tourist town Down*
The Associated Press
Wednesday, August 30, 2006; 10:40 AM
CANADA - TOFINO, British Columbia -- Hotels, resorts and other
businesses in this burgeoning rainforest tourist town on Vancouver
Island have been told to shut down because of a water shortage.
Because of high demand and very little rain since July, the town's main
reservoir is so depleted there might not be enough water to fight a
fire, Mayor John Fraser said Tuesday.
A notice issued Tuesday said residential water service was being given
priority in the town of 1,500 year-round residents.
"The WATER SHORTAGE has become extremely severe," the notice read. "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."
Going into the Labor Day weekend, one of the area's busiest of the year,
"we're communicating with resorts, asking them to contact guests and
advise them they possibly don't want to come out there right now," said
Leif Pedersen, administrator for the District of Tofino.
The town is getting water from a secondary source, Ginnard Creek, and
residents have been told to boil it as a precaution. Officials also are
working to have firetrucks haul water to the reservoir from as far as
Ucluelet, about a 30-minute drive to the south, Pedersen said.
"It will be going on constantly," he said.
Tofino gets more than 10 feet of rain a year, but Pedersen said the
reservoir is so low that "we don't know" how much water is left.
In December, the provincial Community Services Ministry decided that
Tofino, which experienced a less severe water crisis in 2004, was
eligible for grants to upgrade its water system. A federal, provincial
and municipal water system improvement project, estimated to cost nearly
$5.5 million, is scheduled for completion next year.