| YOUR COMMUNITY —_ | che NF ate vey, WEST. VANCOUVER municipality senior tech 363 ee 5 : nician Kevin R Ps aitisay points out the serious short: entertainment PAGE 23 Ptkatvabo tae eeeekoce ae NEWS photo Teny Fetars ge of water at Eagle Lake; ‘the water supply source for: the western part of West Vancouver. The. lake;is currently downto about a, two weeks’ supply. — from its usual 230 million gallons to only:26 \ EXTREME WATER shortages from a lack of rain have caused West Vancouver District Council to ban all outdoor watering in the municipality, while the two North Van- couver municipalities are keeping watchful eyes on declining reservoir water levels. Eagle Lake, which supplies water to the western part of West Vancouver, is so low that there is only\about two.weeks ‘water supp- ly left. i “‘During the past several months we have enjoyed a record number of sunny days, resulting in a drought that has left our water supply in a critical state,’’ said’: Ald. Gordon Rowntree at Mon-' day’s council meeting. .,, . “Without being an, alarmist, it is important that citizens recognize that the situation is very serious,’”’ By MAUREEN CURTIS and TIMOTHY RENSHAW The ban on water use includes filling pools and fountains and sprinkling or watering gardens and lawns. West Vancouver . residents are encouraged to conserve water for essential uses only. Patrols are being organized to enforce the ban. According to the new director of: operations Barry Lambert, measures are being taken to reduce limited _ W. Van reacts to lack of rain Nelson Creek intake has been reac- iivated and the Greater Vancouver Water District supply which ac- commodates the eastern part of the: municipality has been pushed fur- ther west. These measures should replace about one third of the amount of water that would otherwise be coming from Eagle Lake at this time of year. ‘ ““As Eagle Lake itself is not be- ing replenished, . however, steps are merely buying time and possibly not for more than’ one week,’’ Lambert said in his report to municipal: manager Terry Lester. Ald. Mark Sager ‘called the municipality's water situation “unbelievable.” ; . Neith Vancouver City q “ays these’ nor District, which both get their water from the Capilano, and Seymour lakes,: plan to restrict outdoor water use at the present time. But city engineer Alan Phillips said as soon as the municipality is advised by the GVRD that there is a shortage of water in the North Shore reservoirs, restrictions would be imposed. Greater Vancouver Regional District spokesman Bud Elsie said the situation at both North Shore water reservoirs remains unchang- ed’ from last week: ‘‘I’ve never seen it like this. We really need some rain in the next week.”’ In an Oct. 23 News story chronicling the effects on Lower Mainland water supplies from the continuing dry weather, Elsie said water levels in the'Capilano and. Seymour lakes, which provide water to the majority of Lower Mainland communities, were 38 and 34 feet below their June Ievels respectively. ; Elsie said that though the fevels were about the same as they were in 1986, last year was also bad. A 2,2-millimetre rainfall Sunday did little to relieve’ the current water situation, Elsie said: ‘‘Most of it was absorbed into the ground.” In the last two months just over 30 millimetres of rain has. fallen in the Lower Maintand. October alone normally gets about 114 millimetres. An estimated 14% to two weeks of steady rain is needed to return local reservoirs to normal tevels.