Staving Off a Revolt

...and thank goodness he did!

Head of RDNO, David Sewell, responded to Lumby's request to release water from Duteau's reservoirs by saying flood control isn't what the reservoirs are for.  And that our water reservoirs are too small to mitigate flooding in Lumby.

...seems Sewell remembered the purpose of the water reservoirs is to ensure an adequate water supply for Greater Vernon.  Drinking water.  Irrigation water.

an article from 2008

"GVW customers would've drawn 'n quartered the head of RDNO," Kia would've offered, "had he buckled to Lumby's demands."


Now all he needs to do is to stave off a customer revolt because of water prices!
Water prices are the talk of the town...again.

This water war appears to have been staved off.
For the time being.

El Nino Helping Reservoir Levels?

It does appear that water levels were higher earlier in 2015, perhaps due to El Nino.
The North Okanagan doesn't regularly receive rainfall during the Fall, nor during mild weather mid-winter.  Nice when we get it though...

This chart holds considerable interest for GVW customers, as 19 year averages are mostly comparable to the 10 year average reservoir levels.

(Click the chart to enlarge...)

(Source:  Bob Spiers' vernonblog)

"If only GVW's data on consumption were as comprehensive," says Kia, adding "their data to SAC still lumped together all other consumption outside of Agricultural as 'Domestic', which for many years included the ICI category of Institutional, Commercial, and Industrial."

That's ludicrous from a data standpoint!