Thompson Okanagan Region

Drought Response Implementation Plan

By Richard McCleary, Phil Belliveau, Christian St. Pierre

VERSION 1: Modified June 26, 2015

Contents1 Introduction............................................................................................................................1

2 Area of the plan......................................................................................................................1

3 Drought Team Member Roles and Responsibilities................................................................5

4 Drought Assessment and Response........................................................................................6

4.1 Step 1 – Collect Drought Information..............................................................................6

4.2 Step 2 – Evaluate General Drought Information.............................................................6

4.3 Step 3 – Collect Detailed Drought Information...............................................................6

4.4 Step 4 – Evaluate Detailed Information and Assign Drought Levels................................7

4.5 Step 5 – Implement Stream Specific Response including Water Restrictions.................8

4.6 Step 6 – Monitor Regulatory Compliance and Effectiveness...........................................8

5 Communication...................................................................................................................... 8

Appendix 1. Definitions........................................................................................................9

Appendix 2. Additional information required for watch list streams.................................10

Appendix 3. Regional Drought Response team members for 2015...................................11

Appendix 4. Flow chart showing the drought assessment and response process.............12

Appendix 5. Relevant Legislation – Flow Regulation..........................................................13

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1 Introduction Drought is defined as an extended period with a deficient water supply. Many streams in the Thompson-Okanagan region are flow sensitive in the summer period and may commonly be in a drought state, particularly when subject to withdrawal. During times of scarcity, conflicts relating to water use include those between licenced users and also those that arise from insufficient water to meet the combined licenced demand and environmental needs. To appropriately address and reduce drought-related impacts, it is imperative for water managers to anticipate, plan and mitigate for drought. This document was developed by the Ministry of Forest, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, Thompson Okanagan Region (TOR) to help managers assess and respond to worsening drought conditions. It outlines a proactive approach to resolving conflicts during times of water scarcity. This plan is complimentary to the Provincial Drought Response Plan (2015).

2 Area of the planThis Drought Response Implementation Plan applies throughout the FLNRO Thompson-Okanagan Region (Figure 1) and within specific water precincts that occur within the Cariboo and the Kootenay Boundary region that are administered by the Thompson Okanagan Region.

Figure 1. Map of water management precincts within Cascades, Okanagan Shuswap, and Thompson Rivers Districts.

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The plan will be implemented across the region within the three Natural Resource Districts. . For all districts, a priority list of flow sensitive streams has been developed to guide monitoring activities during the drought season (July through September). This group of prioritized streams is the “Watch List”. As geography and water management activities are specific to individual basins, the response to drought conditions will vary between streams. Water management response options appropriate to each drought level will be identified for each stream on the Watch List.

The two main categories of streams on the Watch List include streams with Water Survey Canada (WSC) automated real-time data (Table 1), and streams where manual streamflow measurements will be required (Table 2). A set of hydrological descriptors for each stream on the list will be developed to help place the reported discharge measurement from any given date into context (Appendix 2).

Table 1. Water Survey of Canada real-time gauging station locations that can be used to assess drought level.

Station Name Count Station Number Flow Type District Precinct Name

Tulameen River Below Vuich Creek 1 08NL071 Natural Cascades TulameenWhiteman Creek Above Bouleau Creek 2 08NM174 Natural Okanagan Shuswap VernonPennask Creek Near Quilchena 3 08LG016 Natural Cascades Upper NicolaColdstream Creek Above Municipal Intake 4 08NM142 Natural Okanagan Shuswap Okanagan CentreColdwater River Near Brookmere 5 08LG048 Natural Cascades MerrittCamp Creek At Mouth Near Thirsk 6 08NM134 Natural Okanagan Shuswap SummerlandVaseux Creek Above Solco Creek 7 08NM171 Natural Okanagan Shuswap FairviewTwo Forty-One Creek Near Penticton 8 08NM241 Natural Okanagan Shuswap PentictonChase Creek Above The Mouth 9 08LE112 Regulated Thompson Rivers DucksSalmon River At Falkland 10 08LE020 Regulated Thompson Rivers Grand PrairieSalmon River Near Salmon Arm 11 08LE021 Regulated Thompson Rivers Grand PrairieBonaparte River Below Cache Creek 12 08LF002 Regulated Thompson Rivers BonaparteNicola River At Outlet Of Nicola Lake 13 08LG065 Regulated Cascades Lower NicolaNicola River Above Nicola Lake 14 08LG049 Regulated Cascades Upper NicolaGranby River At Grand Forks 15 08NN002 Regulated Okanagan Shuswap Grand ForksWest Kettle River At Westbridge 16 08NN003 Regulated Okanagan Shuswap WestbridgeKettle River Near Westbridge 17 08NN026 Regulated Okanagan Shuswap WestbridgeMission Creek Near East Kelowna 18 08NM116 Regulated Okanagan Shuswap KelownaSimilkameen River At Princeton 19 08NL007 Regulated Cascades PrincetonTulameen River At Princeton 20 08NL024 Regulated Cascades PrincetonColdwater River At Merritt 21 08LG010 Regulated Cascades MerrittNicola River Near Spences Bridge 22 08LG006 Regulated Cascades Spences BridgeSimilkameen River Near Hedley 23 08NL038 Regulated Okanagan Shuswap HedleyInkaneep Creek Near The Mouth 24 08NM200 Regulated Okanagan Shuswap FairviewShatford Creek Near Penticton 25 08NM037 Regulated Okanagan Shuswap PentictonTrepanier Creek Near Peachland 26 08NM041 Regulated Okanagan Shuswap Peachland

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Streams requiring manual flow monitoring include those that have been monitored on previous drought circuits (e.g., Doyle 2004 and Nyhof 1988), those identified as having water demand levels that can pose a high risk to environmental values, reference streams, and those that have been identified by Water Officers as streams prone to conflict. Although this list of streams is lengthy, not all streams require regular measurement. With input from Fisheries Biologists, Water Officers, Provincial Instream Flow Specialist(s), water users and members of the public, a subset of streams of concern will be identified. This list will be periodically updated throughout the drought season.

For each stream, the Regional Specialists will pre-determine the specific locations for measuring stream flow, water level, water temperature and fish habitat condition (e.g., riffle depth).

Table 2. Candidate watch list streams requiring manual measurement (this table needs additional information).

Stream Name Count District Station noCanoe Cr 27 Thompson Rivers 08LE004East Canoe Cr 28 Thompson Rivers 08LE108Monte Cr 29 Thompson Rivers 08LE013Lemieux 30 Thompson Rivers 08LB078Cache Cr 31 Thompson Rivers 08LF004Louis Cr 32 Thompson Rivers 08LB072Clapperton Cr 33 Cascades 08LG015Guichon Cr 34 Cascades 08LG067Tranquille Cr 35 Thompson Rivers 08LF024Deadman Cr 36 Thompson Rivers 08LF027Barriere River 37 Thompson Rivers 08LB020Raft River 38 Thompson Rivers 08LB017Mann Cr 39 Thompson Rivers 08LB050Harper Cr 40 Thompson Rivers 08LB076Quilchena Cr 41 Cascades 08LG017Palmer Cr 42 Okanagan Shuswap 08LE072Hat Cr 43 Thompson Rivers 08LF015Arrowstone Cr 44 Thompson Rivers 08LF099Allison 45 Okanagan Shuswap 08NL012Summers 46 Okanagan Shuswap 08NL019Bessette 47 Okanagan Shuswap 08LC042Duteau 48 Okanagan Shuswap 08LC006Creighten 49 Okanagan Shuswap 08LC033Ashton 50 Okanagan ShuswapBrash 51 Okanagan Shuswap 08LC004Fortune 52 Okanagan Shuswap 08LC035Blurton 53 Okanagan Shuswap 08LC025Trinity 54 Okanagan Shuswap 08LC050Gardom 55 Okanagan Shuswap 08LC036Falls Cr 56 Okanagan ShuswapMiddle Vernon 57 Okanagan Shuswap 08NM043Trout 58 Okanagan Shuswap 08NM158

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3 Drought Team Member Roles and ResponsibilitiesThe plan is built around a core team of Regional Specialists and District Water Officers who will respond to drought conditions across the Region (Table 2). Each member of the team has a set role with different responsibilities that contribute to the main functions of collecting flow information, setting the drought level, regulating flow during times of scarcity, communication, and follow-up monitoring. The team membership will be determined each spring so team members can properly prepare for the late summer drought season (see 2015 team in Appendix 3).

Table 2. Regional Drought Response Team roles and responsibilities.

Role Responsibilities Business CentreTeam Lead Coordinates Regional Drought

Response team Liaise with Regional Water Managers

and Provincial drought working group

Communicate streamflow status and regulation decisions to appropriate management level

FLNRO Ecosystems

Regional Specialist – Hydrologist

Hydrological guidance Review drought level assignment

FLNRO Regional Ops

Regional Specialist – Agriculture

Provides agriculture perspective Evaluates economic consequences of

response actions Co-leads stakeholder communication

Agriculture – Business Development Div.

Regional Specialist – Aquatic Ecology

Assigning drought level based on reported flows

Evaluating environmental consequences

Provides stream flow training

FLNRO Ecosystems

District Water Officers Coordinates collection of streamflow measurements from Watch List streams in district.

Applies first in time, first in rights (FITFIR) protocol when necessary.

Co-leads Stakeholder communication (identify best approach to communicate with licensees).

Support other districts as required.

FLNRO –Thompson Okanagan Region Resource Districts

Cascades Okanagan Shuswap Thompson Rivers

Other people as required

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Given that drought conditions will likely develop unequally across the region due to highly varied terrestrial ecoregions, members of the drought response team will address priority actions across the entire region and will not be restricted by district boundaries; rather a pooled resource approach will be followed.

4 Drought Assessment and ResponseThe first step in the assessment process is to evaluate core drought indicators to determine at a broad level whether a drought is likely to occur. This is done by the Provincial River Forecasting Center Core which provides monthly regional synopses of drought forecasts. If there is a high likelihood of drought in the Thompson Okanagan, the regional drought team will be convened by the Team Lead no later than mid-May, and the assessment and response procedure will be initiated. There are six steps in the drought assessment and response procedure that are repeated as required throughout the drought season. These steps are described in more detail below and summarized in a flow chart in 5.1.1Appendix 4. Throughout the process, there is a regular exchange of information between the Regional Specialists and the Water Officers from the three Natural Resource Districts in the region. As the drought level escalates, this exchange will intensify and ratings will become more stream specific.

4.1 Step 1 – Collect Drought Information Information on stream flow from a variety of sources will be collected by the Regional Specialists to evaluate drought conditions. The main information source will be the Water Survey of Canada (WSC) real-time stations of interest. This verified data will be supplemented through field observations by Water Officers and through other sources. Pre-drought work will include locating older WSC stations, arranging access, establishing stage references (e.g., staff gauges), and determining transect locations for discharge measurement. This information will be shared with those members of the drought team who will be measuring flows using appropriate devices (meters, Parshall flumes).

4.2 Step 2 – Evaluate General Drought InformationGeneral information such as WSC data will be screened by the Regional Specialists to determine reliability. Additional information in locations of interest will be requested from the WSC. All WSC real-time data is initially published as provisional and requires screening. Depending on the screening results, field confirmation may be required. The Regional Specialists will identify target streams on the Watch List for detailed flow monitoring.

4.3 Step 3 – Collect Detailed Drought InformationWater Officers will collect streamflow information at locations pre-determined by the FLNRO Regional Specialists on each target stream. At each location, the officer will record water depth at a pre-determined reference point and measure discharge at a predetermined cross-section.

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Measurements and photos will be collected in a standard format and forwarded to the FLNRO Regional Specialists. During the field visit, additional aquatic habitat information will be collected including habitat connectivity, water temperature and riffle depth/velocity. A field manual will be developed to describe standards for reporting stream flow levels based on ecological consequences. Monitoring will be conducted on a circuit basis. Scheduling and resourcing for operating the circuit is an important planning consideration.

4.4 Step 4 – Evaluate Detailed Information and Assign Drought LevelsStream flow information is evaluated by the Regional Specialists who then default to the criteria in the Provincial Drought Response Plan for setting drought levels (Table 3). The response targets from the Provincial plan are designed to apply during summer base flow conditions (see Appendix 1 for definition). Drought response can also be important during other times of the year such as spring freshet, especially for reservoir management (filling and releasing); however, percentile flow thresholds targets do not apply to those circumstances.

Table 3. Flow thresholds from the Provincial Drought Management Plan (based on 7 day average flows).

Drought Level Flow ConditionsLevel 1 – Green 1. Greater than > 25th percentile (> 1 in 4 year low flow)Level 2 – Yellow 2. 11 – 25th percentile (between 1 in 10 and 1 in 4 year low

flow)Level 3 – Orange3. 6 – 10th percentile (between 1 in 20 and 1 in 10 year low

flow)Level 4 – Red 4. < 6th percentile (1 in 20 year low flow or below)

As drought conditions escalate, response measures will follow a continuum, intensifying as conditions worsen (see flow chart in Appendix 4). Consistent with the Provincial protocol, compliance with measures will be voluntary from Level 1 through Level 3. Drought condition and target water use reductions will be communicated to stakeholders by District Water Officers and the Regional Agriculture Specialist. As drought conditions escalate, drought ratings and water use reduction measures will become stream specific. When the drought conditions reach Level 4, water reductions may shift from voluntary request to regulatory order, depending on the level of compliance met with the voluntary measures and on the fisheries values in jeopardy. Regulatory tools include enforcing fish clauses within water licenses, applying FITFIR, or implementing Section 9 of the Fish Protection Act. At Level 4, the drought response team, led by the Regional Specialists, will prepare a stream specific impact assessment including a list of fish stocks and life stages at risk from the drought and the economic and social consequences of regulatory measures that are recommended to address low flow. The

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team lead will communicate the assessment and regulatory recommendations to the appropriate water manager (and possibly the Regional Management Team) for a decision.

As drought conditions escalate, drought information will also be shared with Provincial and Federal recreational fisheries managers to allow them to implement regulatory actions such as fishing closures to address drought related concerns (eg, fish stranding, heat stress).

4.5 Step 5 – Implement Stream Specific Response including Water Restrictions

The Water Officers will implement the approved drought response actions and follow a communication plan that outlines how drought level information and response actions will be conveyed to the different user groups and stakeholders.

4.6 Step 6 – Monitor Regulatory Compliance and EffectivenessFor each regulatory restriction, the Regional Specialists will develop a stream specific plan to monitor streamflow. District Water Officers will implement these plans, monitor compliance with the regulatory restrictions, and evaluate to what degree the restrictions are improving stream flow. The Water Officers will work cooperatively with the Regional Specialists to determine when restrictions can be lifted.

5 Communication Successful implementation of response actions is contingent upon effective communication with stakeholders, decision makers and local communities. While all members of the Thompson Okanagan Region Drought Response Team will be responsible for communication, there will be more reliance on the Team Lead, Agriculture Specialist and District Water Officers to deliver key, timely messages to the appropriate audiences. Specific roles are as follows:

1. Team Lead – regularly communicate with TOR Regional Water Managers team, TOR Regional Management Team, Regional Executive and with Provincial Drought Technical Working Group. Communicate management and executive direction to the drought response team.

2. Agriculture Specialist – communicate changes in drought condition and corresponding response actions to agriculture community licensee and stakeholders.

3. District Water Officers – communicate changes in drought condition and corresponding actions with district manager and district water licensees.

Drought condition and target water use reductions will be communicated to stakeholders. District Water Officers and the Regional Agriculture Specialist will coordinate this action, with support from the Team Lead and Regional Specialists as required.

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Communication tools include press release through formal government communication, letters to licensees, local radio, internet, Facebook, email, word of mouth, local news reports, drought board, and local bulletins. As well, associations like the Salmon River and Nicola River Round Tables and the BC Cattleman’s Association will be contacted to help communicate drought related information. As drought conditions escalated across the region, other FLNR resources may be called upon to assist with communication.

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Appendix 1. Definitions“summer baseflow” – the lowest monthly flow during the summer irrigation season (July – September) for each year, geometric mean (1 in 2 year frequency), over the period of record (Table 4).

Table 4. Example calculation of summer baseflow.

Year Monthly flow (l/s) Summer baseflow (l/s)Jul Aug Sep

1985 419 226 350 2261986 1150 277 216 2161987 257 136 92 921988 673 236 225 2251989 625 327 312 3121990 1200 291 200 200Mean 721 249 233 200Max 1200 327 350 312Min 257 136 92 92

Water Act"officer" means

(a) a person or class of persons employed by the government or a government corporation and designated in writing by the comptroller as an officer, or

(b) a conservation officer defined in section 1 (1) of the Environmental Management Act;

"order" includes a decision or direction, whether given in writing or otherwise;

"regulate" includes allow, commence, stop, limit, open, shut and prohibit;

Water Sustainability Act"critical environmental flow threshold", in relation to the flow of water in a stream, means the volume of water flow below which significant or irreversible harm to the aquatic ecosystem of the stream is likely to occur;

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Appendix 2. Additional information required for watch list streams

Table 5. Field names, definitions and sources of information from Watch List streams.

Field Name Definition SourceDate Date of flowDischarge Flow rate in cubic meters per second. WSC websitePercentile flow Indicates the percentage of historic flows on the

date of interest that are lower than the observed flow

http://watermonitor.gov/naww/index.php

Drainage area The size of the watershed WSC websiteError Error between predicted and measured flow at last

WSC streamflow measurementWSC website

QC Quality control: whether the discharge is a pass, fail, or requires correction

Assessed by Regional Team

Corrected discharge

The adjusted value as required by QC Calculated by Regional Team

Quartile The distribution of flow records has four quartiles that are bounded by: (1) the minimum value; (2) the mid-point between the minimum value and the median value; (3) the median value; (4), the mid-point between the median value and maximum value; and (5) the maximum value.

WSC website

Long-term Mean Annual Discharge (LT MAD)

The average flow for each year averaged over the period of record

HYDAT, Hydromaster

Average summer baseflow (% LT MAD)

The minimum monthly flow through the summer season (e.g., July – Sept.), average for the period of record expressed as a percentage of MAD.

WSC, Hydromaster

Percent LT MAD The discharge for the date of interest expressed as % LT MAD.

Calculated ratio

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Appendix 3. Regional Drought Response team members for 2015Table 6. List of 2015 Drought Team Members

Name Affiliation RolePhil Belliveau FLNRO Ecosystems Team LeadBruce McFarlane FLNRO Regional

Operations DivisionRegional Specialist – Hydrologist

Andrew Petersen Agriculture – Business Development Division

Regional Specialist – Agriculture

Rich McCleary FLNRO Ecosystems Regional Specialist – Aquatic Ecology

Christian St. Pierre

FLNRO Ecosystems Regional Specialist – Aquatic Ecology

Kim DeRose FLNRO Regional Ops - Cascades

District Water Officer

Patrick Farmer FLNRO Regional Ops - Cascades

District Water Officer

Colleen Dreger FLNRO Regional Ops – Thompson Rivers

District Water Officer

Murray Allison FLNRO Regional Ops – Thompson Rivers

District Water Officer

Ray Reilly FLNRO Regional Ops – Okanagan Shuswap

District Water Officer

Dale Richter FLNRO Regional Ops – Okanagan Shuswap

District Water Officer

Other specialists

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Appendix 4. Flow chart showing the drought assessment and response process

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Appendix 5. Relevant Legislation – Flow RegulationFor a complete list of related legislation, see the British Columbia Drought Response Plan. Highly relevant legislation includes the following:

Fish Protection Act – Sec. 9:

Temporary reduction may be ordered in cases of drought

9 (1) This section applies if the minister considers that, because of a drought, the flow of water in a stream is or is likely to become so low that the survival of a population of fish in the stream may be or may become threatened.

(2) In the circumstances referred to in subsection (1), for the purposes of protecting the fish population, the minister may make temporary orders regulating the diversion, rate of diversion, time of diversion, storage, time of storage and use of water from the stream by holders of licences or approvals in relation to the stream, regardless of precedence under the Water Act.

(3) The minister may only make an order under subsection (2) after giving due consideration to the needs of agricultural users.

Water Act – Sec. 15:

Precedence of licences on same stream

15 (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsections (2) and (3), the respective rights exercisable under 2 licences authorizing the diversion of water from the same stream have precedence in law according to the respective priorities of the dates from which the licences take precedence as set out in them.

(2) The respective rights exercisable under 2 licences taking precedence from the same date have precedence in law according to the ranking of the respective purposes for which water is authorized to be used under the licences respectively, and the ranking of the several purposes for which water may be used under licences are, from highest rank to lowest rank: domestic, waterworks, mineral trading, irrigation, mining, industrial, power, hydraulicking, storage, conservation, conveying and land improvement purposes.

(3) The rights exercisable under 2 licences taking precedence from the same date and authorizing the diversion of water from the same stream for the same purpose have equal precedence in law.

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