Drought is a definite possibility in the Cariboo this year.
Dave Campbell, with the BC River Forecast Centre, says snowpack levels in the Quesnel River system and in the Chilcotin are well below normal.
“The Quesnel watershed is at 63 percent of normal for March 1st, and the Chilcotin is at 67 percent of normal, so both in that really low category. Obviously last year was quite a bit different, just looking at the numbers almost double the amount of snow across the area. The Quesnel was 111 percent, and the Chilcotin was 139 percent for March 1st last year.”
Campbell says those numbers are definitely a concern.
“When we’re in that 55 percent of normal or below, that’s sort of our upper concern threshold. Below that is where we have significant concerns for the water availability side from the snow, so we’re hovering right around that threshold, below it in the Quesnel River, so certainly on the drought side the amount of snow we have right now is a concern for that water availability.”
Provincially, the snowpack is at 66 percent of normal, which is the second lowest mark in BC’s history that dates back to 1950.
Campbell says they will get a better idea of where things are when the next snowpack report comes out on April 10th, but he also says that it isn’t very likely that basins in the Cariboo region and in the Chilcotin will get up to normal levels.
