This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: British Columbia has endured another extreme drought, with damaging impacts across the province, including a watershed emergency declared by the Syilx Okanagan Nation, 70% water-use reductions for agricultural producers in Vernon, regulatory orders to protect salmon and explosive wildfires driven by severe drought conditions. Year after year, the chaotic cycle of drought crises has become a familiar experience for British Columbians.
We argue it's the result of provincial water management that continues to treat drought as a short-term seasonal emergency rather than the year-round, persistent problem it has become. A recent report by our team and collaborators at the University of Victoria's POLIS Water Sustainability Project examined B.C.'s drought past, present and future. We provide insights into how drought is changing, gaps in the provincial government's drought response and the reforms needed to build a more drought-resilient future.
B.C. continues to set new records for drought severity, extent and duration. In 2023, severe drought hit approximately 85% of the province. Increasingly, droughts arrive in spring and persist into winter, creating continuous, multiyear droughts.
Recent droughts have resulted in massive fish die-offs, 50% less production for farmers, loss of livestock, months-long states of emergency in communities like Dawson Creek, McBride and the Sunshine Coast, and increasing conflicts over scarce water. While the 2023 drought was unprecedented, climate change projections indicate this type of extreme event will likely occur once every three years (or more often) in the coming decades. Climate change and fundamental shifts in hydrology are key drivers of drought.
But drought and water scarcity (when there is not enough water to meet ecological and human needs) are also shaped by human decisions about land and water, like whether water is overallocated, wetlands are drained or forests are clear-cut. Community planning and choices about land and water management influence how much of a buffer we have and our ability to adapt to drought and scarcity. The provincial water management system is based on a fundamental assumption of water abundance and does not serve today's water scarcity and drought realities.
Although the B.C. government has improved some aspects of drought management, its overall approach is reactive and rooted in an assumption of water abundance. B.C. lacks essential water and drought management foundations, including systematic water-use measurement and monitoring, and progress has stalled on implementing proactive tools under the Water Sustainability Act. Solutions exist, and communities are already leading the way by monitoring flows, implementing innovative local drought strategies, restoring wetlands and voluntarily reducing water use.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
