Saint John, N.B., prepares emergency plan as watershed levels continue to fall

The City of Saint John, N.B., is asking residents to conserve water.

Saint John Water is worried there’s not much room for the city’s watershed to decline before problems multiply, and is urging residents to go easy on their taps.

The Loch Lomond Watershed, which provides most of the city’s water supply, lost close to half a metre of its water level in August.

The city issued an advisory on Friday, asking residents to voluntarily reduce how much water they’re using at home.

Kendall Mason, the director of Saint John Water, says the current situation will hit a new stage of urgency if another water level decrease of one metre occurs.

If that happens, Kendall says an emergency plan would be implemented and include building a dam structure between First Lake and Robertson Lake. With the emergency plan, water would be moved from deeper areas of First Lake and pumped over the dam to increase levels in Robertson Lake.

“We’re prepared to execute that,” says Kendall. “Right now, I think it’s best to ask residents to voluntarily comply.”

Kendall didn’t provide a potential cost for the emergency plan, when asked by reporters on Monday.

Saint John Water says heavy industries in the city are following its request from last month to cut water usage.

The city also received approval from the provincial government to delay all hydrant flushing considered to be non-essential.

Dean Price, the city’s manager of source water protection, says the goal is “to have the lakes back up in full by wintertime” in the Loch Lomond Watershed.

“It is important to have that stored water in ice over the winter to get us through the next year,” he said.

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