FEATURED By: Shane Chevalier

Friday, July 14, 2023

Each day I take the pooch, Cecily, to one of the two rivers here in Prince George, the Nechako at Wilson Park and the Fraser River at Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park. Goldies love to bathe in the river, and Cecily’s favorite spot out of all parks she can go to in Prince George is the muddy, brown water of the Fraser.

Over the last several days both rivers are showing signs of water reduction in areas where you couldn’t walk on before due to it being muddy at the Fraser and rocky at the Nechako. Currently, Prince George is under drought 4, Adverse Impacts Likely.

This is concerning since there is little rain in the forecast for the upcoming week, except for Sunday where we might get 5 to 10 mm, but that comes with the possibility of thunderstorms.

So, how can we save water other than the basics of reducing the use of laundry, dishes, showers and bath tubbing?

Water restrictions and cooperation!

It is definitely time to stop watering the entrance way to The Exploration Place and portions of Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park.

The City of Prince George needs to enact their own water policy amongst the city parks/gardens that get watered and reduce the water usage! It may only be a fraction of what all of PG combined consumes but it is asked upon residents to cooperate.

How can residents cooperate? It’s time to end the watering of lawns for the time being. Lawns will most likely come back in the fall and water, if El Nino has its way like it did in 2015 by bringing a mild fall and winter with rain and ice instead of snow for Christmas. The lack of snow last winter is why we’re in a drought in the first place.

A tip for the little trees that were planted! Give them a drink if the soil around is dried out but it doesn’t need to be overdone with a sprinkler for an hour. Trees are important, lawns are not.

Have some pretty flowers in hanging baskets?

If you have two empty buckets and a watering can, fill the can with water, place an empty bucket underneath the hanging basket, and pour water into the flower basket. Reuse the collected water in the bucket below your hanging basket to give a drink to the same basket or another flower basket in your garden. Use the second empty bucket to recollect the water that pours out of another hanging basket and continue on to the next.

Flowers planted into the ground are capable of getting their own water from nearby vegetation but a small drink once a week wouldn’t hurt. Aim for the roots and not the flower.

Water conservation is everybody’s responsibility and water needs to be treated with respect so let’s do our part by coming up with solutions on how to reuse water and use less from the taps.