Stage 4 water restrictions were set to be lifted Thursday, Oct. 19, the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) has announced.
The SCRD will return to Stage 2 restrictions for all households and businesses on SCRD water, south of Pender Harbour.
The ban on all outdoor water use in the Chapman water supply area started Oct. 3.
Recent rains have replenished Chapman and Edwards lakes, but those lake levels were still being monitored on a daily basis, the SCRD said.
Ice installation at the Sunshine Coast Arena in Sechelt is set to proceed on Oct. 19 when the Stage 2 water restrictions come into effect. The SCRD expects the arena to be open on Oct. 28. Ice users have shared ice time at the Gibsons and Area Community Centre in recent weeks.
“In the next few days, recreation coordinators will be reaching out to ice user groups to transition the current schedule to our normal two-facility ice schedule,” Ian Hall, the SCRD’s general manager of planning and community development, said Wednesday.
During the Stage 4 restrictions, a siphon was used at Chapman Lake to draw water from the lower portion of the lake. Prior to its installation, the SCRD estimated the set-up cost of the siphon to be approximately $155,000 and the weekly operating cost $15,000.
Under Stage 2 restrictions, outdoor watering can resume on all properties. For even numbered addresses, watering is allowed on Thursday and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and for odd numbered addresses watering is allowed on Wednesday and Saturday, in the same time frame. Hosing of sidewalks and driveways, windows and exterior building surfaces is not allowed.
Meanwhile, a report on a groundwater investigation to supplement the Chapman water supply was on the agenda for the Oct. 19 infrastructure services committee meeting. Waterline Resources Inc., the company tasked with the investigation, completed a hydrogeological desktop study followed by site inspections, which identified aquifers contained within the Chapman Creek Water Service area.
Four potential sites were chosen to focus on out of 12 potential well locations.
The 2013 Comprehensive Regional Water Plan called for a groundwater investigation to identify possible sites. In July 2016 the SCRD issued a request for proposals to start the first phase of the groundwater investigation, and in December the contract was awarded to Waterline Resources Inc.
