CAO Smith pens open letter on perceived water shortages

Merritt’s CAO Sean Smith has penned an open letter to the community about perceived water shortages.

“I want to state in the clearest possible terms that Merritt is not running out of water. We draw from the Upper Merritt aquifer, which is stable and has demonstrated that it can support much higher levels of consumption than what we currently draw. We are also built on top of two other aquifers that could potentially be utilized as water sources,” began Smith. 

Merritt’s CAO continued to mention how supporting the Coldwater River is the main concern during watering restrictions. 

“While we have lots of water, when we draw any amount of water from the aquifer during the summer months, it puts additional stress on the drought-prone Coldwater River. Since the Coldwater River is the primary source of recharge for the Upper Merritt aquifer, when the City pumps from the aquifer, that water is replaced (primarily) from the Coldwater River,” stated Smith. 

“Merritt’s water use is one of many contributing factors to the drought conditions that the Coldwater River tends to experience in the summer. These conditions critically threaten the health of the Coldwater River ecosystem, especially fish, which struggle due to the low flow and accompanying high water temperature. Each year, the City implements watering restrictions as a means of reducing water consumption during drought season, to minimize our impact on Coldwater River flows,” adds Smith. 

Smith highlighted that the City is working through a number of potential options to address the issues. 

“The City is at various stages of exploring potential options to minimize its pumping impacts and/or directly support Coldwater River flows. These options range from reducing water consumption through xeriscaping, education, and water metering, to seeking alternative water sources, to directly supporting Coldwater River flows in drought season through a series of reservoirs or through groundwater storage and release. The ultimate solution will likely be found by working together to implement a combination of many of these options,” said Smith. 

The full letter with further details into the water situation in the Nicola Valley can be found here – http://www.merritt.ca/open-letter-on-perceived-water-shortages-in-merritt/