Drinking water

The Township of Spallumcheen is looking to monitor its water usage. (Jennifer Smith - Morning Star)

Okanagan has one of the highest water use rates per person in Canada

Spallumcheen asking residents to do what they can to be water warriors and conserve

 

Drought conditions in B.C. are disproportionately worse compared to seasonal averages, and officials and experts are urging British Columbians to be sparing with their water usage. (Adobe stock)

Faucet frugality: Experts say B.C. residents need to conserve water now

The province is facing severe drought conditions much earlier than usual

 

Students tour the city of Williams Lake drinking water facility. (Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society photo)

Conservation key for Williams Lake’s water supply

Water Wise education is working to help keep supply stable

 

Williams Lake is working toward adding a new well at Scout Island and has recently awarded contracts for the engineering design phase. (Monica Lamb-Yorski photo - Williams Lake Tribune)

Williams Lake plans new well, engineering design contracts awarded

Existing wells at the Scout Island are about 200 feet deep

Williams Lake is working toward adding a new well at Scout Island and has recently awarded contracts for the engineering design phase. (Monica Lamb-Yorski photo - Williams Lake Tribune)
Peachland Watershed after mass logging. (Interior Watershed Task Force/Contributed to Black Press Media)

B.C. grassroots group calls for change to forest management in watersheds

The IWTF is forming to help change the way the logging industry works

Peachland Watershed after mass logging. (Interior Watershed Task Force/Contributed to Black Press Media)
Boats moored on Okanagan Lake, which has some partially frozen spots but is still dangerous for anyone to venture out on. (Roger Knox - Morning Star)

26 cow carcasses removed from Okanagan Lake

Water testing continues by Okanagan Indian Band

Boats moored on Okanagan Lake, which has some partially frozen spots but is still dangerous for anyone to venture out on. (Roger Knox - Morning Star)
Boats moored on Okanagan Lake, which has some partially frozen spots but is still dangerous for anyone to venture out on. (Roger Knox - Morning Star)

Cows removed from Okanagan Lake, two weeks after drowning

Water quality a concern as closest licensed public drinking water system is located over 10 kilometres from the incident

Boats moored on Okanagan Lake, which has some partially frozen spots but is still dangerous for anyone to venture out on. (Roger Knox - Morning Star)
Driving into the remote Xeni Gwet’in community in Nemiah Valley, the views include fencelines, forests and mountains on the horizon. (Jimmy Lulua photo)

Power, water finally reaches all homes of Xeni Gwe’tin First Nation in Chilcotin

For many, power and water were luxuries they had never had in their homes

Driving into the remote Xeni Gwet’in community in Nemiah Valley, the views include fencelines, forests and mountains on the horizon. (Jimmy Lulua photo)
On Oct. 11 the North Coast Regional District issued a boil water notice for Sandspit. (Photo: Kaitlyn Bailey/Haida Gwaii Observer)

Boil water notice issued for Haida Gwaii

After numerous E. coli bacteria found in a sample of water

On Oct. 11 the North Coast Regional District issued a boil water notice for Sandspit. (Photo: Kaitlyn Bailey/Haida Gwaii Observer)
Residents in Osoyoos are being warned to boil their water before drinking. Some residents didn't need that warning as they took to social media to share images of their brown water. (Facebook)

Dark brown water coming out faucets as Osoyoos expands boil water advisory

The advisory impacts several hundred homes

Residents in Osoyoos are being warned to boil their water before drinking. Some residents didn't need that warning as they took to social media to share images of their brown water. (Facebook)
Patty Hajdu rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Friday, March 25, 2022. The Indigenous services minister wants to be able to lift remaining long-term drinking water advisories by 2025.THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Patrick Doyle

Feds hope long-term boil water advisories lifted by 2025, end of Liberal-NDP deal

Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu has declined to put a firm deadline on the commitment

Patty Hajdu rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Friday, March 25, 2022. The Indigenous services minister wants to be able to lift remaining long-term drinking water advisories by 2025.THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Patrick Doyle
Victoria resident and ultra-marathoner Veronique Bourbeau wants to use her gift for running to give back. She hopes to provide safe drinking water to villages throughout Africa during her fundraising the length of the continent. (Jane Skrypnek/News Staff)

B.C. resident aims to provide safe water, become first woman to run across Africa

Veronique Bourbeau plans to run 13,000 kilometres over the course of a year

Victoria resident and ultra-marathoner Veronique Bourbeau wants to use her gift for running to give back. She hopes to provide safe drinking water to villages throughout Africa during her fundraising the length of the continent. (Jane Skrypnek/News Staff)
Qajuqturvik Community Food Centre staff members fill water jugs at the Sylvia Grinnell River, just outside Iqaluit, in an undated handout photo. The group has been delivering water to homes and organizations that may not have their own transportation, after the city warned last week its tap water was contaminated with fuel. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Rachel Blais, *MANDATORY CREDIT*

Group delivers water to people without cars after fuel contaminates pipes in Iqaluit

Tap water can still be used for bathing, showering, laundry and washing dishes

Qajuqturvik Community Food Centre staff members fill water jugs at the Sylvia Grinnell River, just outside Iqaluit, in an undated handout photo. The group has been delivering water to homes and organizations that may not have their own transportation, after the city warned last week its tap water was contaminated with fuel. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Rachel Blais, *MANDATORY CREDIT*
Residents line up to fill containers with potable water in Iqaluit, Nunavut on Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021. The Nunavut government has declared a 14-day state of emergency in Iqaluit after water in the capital was deemed undrinkable and potentially tainted with petroleum. The first shipment of potable water for residents also arrived by plane, with more expected to be delivered in the coming days. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Emma Tranter

Nunavut declares emergency in Iqaluit, city receives first shipment of potable water

Residents told not to drink the tap water after a fuel smell was detected at treatment plant

Residents line up to fill containers with potable water in Iqaluit, Nunavut on Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021. The Nunavut government has declared a 14-day state of emergency in Iqaluit after water in the capital was deemed undrinkable and potentially tainted with petroleum. The first shipment of potable water for residents also arrived by plane, with more expected to be delivered in the coming days. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Emma Tranter
Stewart Redsky, former chief of Shoal Lake 40 First Nation, walks past one week's worth of 20 litre water bottles in the community's water storage room on Feb. 25, 2015. The First Nation is now welcoming clean, running water for the first time in nearly 25 years. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

‘Fought hard for this’: Decades-old water advisory lifted for Ontario First Nation

Boil-water advisory for Shoal Lake 40 was issued in 1998 and was one of the longest in Canada

Stewart Redsky, former chief of Shoal Lake 40 First Nation, walks past one week's worth of 20 litre water bottles in the community's water storage room on Feb. 25, 2015. The First Nation is now welcoming clean, running water for the first time in nearly 25 years. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods
Semiahmoo First Nation Councillor Joanne Charles and former Chief Willard Cook share a celebratory hug at a July 28 event marking the lifting of the boil water advisory on Semiahmoo lands. (Alex Browne photo)

‘Canada has to step up’ says federal Indigenous minister during B.C. stop

Much work remains to be done, Marc Miller acknowledges

Semiahmoo First Nation Councillor Joanne Charles and former Chief Willard Cook share a celebratory hug at a July 28 event marking the lifting of the boil water advisory on Semiahmoo lands. (Alex Browne photo)
UBC professor Madjid Mohseni and Kluskus water operator Tony Baptiste enjoy a glass of water. (UBC Submitted Photo)

‘Too bets`huna: We live by water’ — Remote village celebrates return of drinking water after 20 years

People living in the Lhoosk’uz Dené village will no longer be bringing in bottled water from Quesnel

UBC professor Madjid Mohseni and Kluskus water operator Tony Baptiste enjoy a glass of water. (UBC Submitted Photo)
The midnight sun shines over the ice-covered waters near Resolute Bay at 1:30 am as seen from the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Louis S. St-Laurent Saturday, July 12, 2008. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Canada has 20% of the world’s freshwater reserves — this is how to protect it

Researchers suggest the need for a Canada Water Agency dedicated to water management across the country

  • May 1, 2021
The midnight sun shines over the ice-covered waters near Resolute Bay at 1:30 am as seen from the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Louis S. St-Laurent Saturday, July 12, 2008. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
John Boros, of City of Surrey water operations turns on two underground roadside taps last December - one for potable water and one for emergency services - marking the completion of the long-awaited connection between SFN and the Surrey water supply. (File photo)

Semiahmoo First Nation tap water safe to drink again, as 16-year boil water advisory is lifted

New distribution system, connected to Surrey water supply, passes safety testing

John Boros, of City of Surrey water operations turns on two underground roadside taps last December - one for potable water and one for emergency services - marking the completion of the long-awaited connection between SFN and the Surrey water supply. (File photo)
Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller responds to a reporters question during a news conference, Wednesday, February 24, 2021 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Ottawa won’t set new deadline for providing clean water in First Nations communities

There are still 38 First Nations communities where the water isn’t considered safe to drink

Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller responds to a reporters question during a news conference, Wednesday, February 24, 2021 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld