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Friday, September 11, 2015
Vol. 8 • Issue 20
Visionary artists coming to Nelson See Page 13
Surviving Sufferfest See Page 19
Mallard’s So arbara Brych, Location: by: B nner, Instructed al Team Ru ian Nation ad an t. C is er al Form Gold Med 4 time CIS $55 r Sports. s Source fo rd la al M at r te is Reg
Water shortage worse now than in summer
280 Baker Street Nelson BC (250)
354-4089
valhallapathrealty@telus.net www.valhallapathrealty.com
Buying or Selling a Home?
Laura Salmon Cell 250-551-8877
E-mail Laura@LauraSalmon.com Website www.LauraSalmon.com
RHC Realty
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Nelson Commons ascends skyward Construction crews were hard at work Wednesday morning as the Nelson Commons project began to take shape under a mammoth crane — the largest used in local history. The three-storey building will be the new location of the Kootenay Co-op as well as residential units on the former location of Extra Foods. Project manager Russell Precious said crews are pouring the slab that doubles as the store ceiling and the first floor of residential. On Hall St. framing has begun. Over 50 workers are on site daily, including mechanical and electrical engineers, framing specialists, first aid attendants and a variety of local contractors including Martech, ITC Construction Group and RCI Construction & Design. Will Johnson photos
“It is my goal to work hard to reach your goals”
Barbie Wheaton
C: 250.509.0654
barbiewheaton@gmail.com
BILL METCALFE Nelson Star It may seem strange, given the cooler temperatures and some recent rain, but the water supply in Nelson is more at risk now than it was in the summer, according to the head of the city’s public works department. “The discharge [from the creeks that feed the reservoir] on Aug. 26 was the lowest on record,” Colin Innes says, “and the forecast is for 40 per cent less rain over the fall.” And so the city has imposed water restrictions (see sidebar, page 4) that are even more stringent than those in the summer. At the end of July, the Star reported that 13.6 megalitres of water per day was entering the reservoir and 11.2 was being used by residents. That, according to Innes at the time, was cutting it very fine because the average year-round supply into the reservoir is 73.4 megalitres per day and the average year-round use is about about six megalitres per day. On Aug. 26, according to Innes, the intake to the reservoir was down to 6.2 megalitres (54 per cent less than in July) and the amount being used by residents was eight megalitres (28 per cent less than July). So while city residents used less in August than in July, possibly because of the water restrictions imposed during that month, the supply also worsened, and Innes says it will take more than a few days’ rain to fix it. “It’s not like we have a glacier up there,” he says. “We depend on the amount of water that falls on it. In the immediate runoff from a rain event, it will look like you have a lot, but what comes at you over time is what is important.” He says in a week or two the gains from recent rain could disappear. “We need more sustained rain. We need a slow gentle rain so it can soak itself in. “We are concerned about people hearing about things like lifting the campfire ban and fire hazard going down and forgetting we have a water shortage issue.” Continued on page 4
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