Nanaimo residents tapped into more water in 2016 but the trend is “quite startlingly downwards” even though population continues to go up, according to Bill Sims, city manager of water resources.
Last year, residential water use inched up to 224 litres per person per day, from 208 litres in 2015, shows the city’s recently released water quality report for 2016.
Sims suggests 2016 was more of a normal year, with less pressure on the system than in 2015 when residents faced an extremely dry year, and were careful with their water and when the city had increased restrictions. He also said there are going to be variations year over year, depending on things like climate.
What’s of greater significance to Sims are the longer-term trends and he said Nanaimo is consuming water at 1990s levels. Ten years ago, he never would have believed it because it’s a natural assumption that as population goes up, water use goes up, he said.
The city reports a population of 60,130 in 1991. Today the census shows there are 90,504.
“I think people are much more aware of conservation and the preciousness of water,” said Sims, who also noted education and increased water rates in 2007 and 2008.
A new water supply dam was previously anticipated by 2025 because of climate change and increasing consumption, according to Sims, who says with conservation measures and increasing pricing and a drastic decline in water consumption, and now the horizon of needing to augment water supply is receding. A water supply strategic plan will be updated over the next couple of years.
To read the full report, which also shows the public’s concerns about water quality and how the city tests its water, visit goo.gl/T6jpc8.