The Regional District of Nanaimo forecasts flooding and droughts in the years to come, and will keep a closer eye on climate data.
The number of extremely hot days, frequency of warm spells and intensity of rainfall events are projected to increase in the regional district, and also across the province, according to an RDN press release. These events cause changes in streamflow, affect fish habitat, spark more frequent wildfires, and result in more extreme weather events like flooding or landslides, the RDN adds.
To track water resources in a changing climate, the Regional District of Nanaimo’s Drinking Water and Watershed Protection program has established important monitoring partnerships and increased the “eyes on the water” to try to understand trends, improve preparedness for response to extreme events and adapt to changing conditions.
Precipitation and temperature, water level and flows are being monitored. This information is valuable to partners and ultimately benefits the region as a whole, according to an RDN press release. Monitoring data will help understand changes over time and how water supplies are being affected so that management of community water, forest fire risk and fish habitat can adapt accordingly, with the many partners involved from senior government, community groups, industry and beyond.
Two new water monitoring locations were added to the regional network recently: a climate station in the upper Nanoose Creek watershed, in partnership with Island Timberlands; and a streamflow station in French Creek in partnership with Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Forests Lands Natural Resources and Rural Development, and RDN Parks.
This adds to the network of nearly 100 monitoring stations — including groundwater, surface water quality, streamflow, snow and lake level sites — that the RDN DWWP program has initiated since 2011.
In the RDN press release, it stated that understanding local water dynamics in a changing climate is important to the resilience of our communities, ecosystems and industries. The RDN said it is a leader in British Columbia in terms of water monitoring, thanks to the drinking water and watershed protection function that co-ordinates initiatives on water science, water education and water planning across the region.
Visit rdn.bc.ca/hydrometric-and-climate-monitoring for more information.