New bridge over Rogers Creek connects to trails Alberni Region, Page 3
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Thursday, July 2, 2015
» Canada Day
INDUSTRY
Island Timber closes roads Severely dry conditions in forest force early precautions this year KRISTI DOBSON ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES
The extreme heat and dry conditions has forced Island Timberlands to initiate a total closure of gates to the company’s road access. All gates on the east side of Vancouver Island are closed to public access because of risk of forest fire danger. The closure is early in the season. “This is really early,” said Bill Waugh, chief forester for Island Timberlands. “Normally we see this as a mid to late August scenario.” He said the conditions are tinder dry and has already resulted in a fire last week on Mount Benson on the east side of Vancouver Island. “We work closely with the Coastal Fire Centre and they are fully on board,” Waugh said. “They are worried about their resources, too.” Waugh said limited work is taking place, but workers are prepared for the conditions. “They are equipped with firefighting equipment and have fire fighting training,” he said. “We do fire patrols and area patrols. We are keeping a watch on the fire weather index and within a week could potentially be shut down completely.” For the Alberni Valley, gates on Canal Main at CX91 and CX165 are closed. Gates at Ash Main and Canal Main are also closed. Waugh said there have been small incidents over time of damage to the company’s expensive equipment in some areas. The roads of the private managed forest lead to the trails of many popular hiking lookouts, including Mount Klitsa and Mount Arrowsmith and are out of bounds to the public. The closure is effectively immediately but over the next couple of days workers will patrol the areas ensuring no one is behind locked gates. “Security will be traveling and putting notices on cars with no occupants,” Waugh said. He said if anyone finds themselves caught behind a locked gate, there is a toll-free number to call. The restrictions are in effect until further notice and until a significant change in the weather takes place.
Baby’s first parade Olivia Baverstock celebrated Canada Day and the 50th anniversary year of the Sproat Lake Fire Department by taking in all the action of the parade on Wednesday morning. [KRISTI DOBSON, TIMES]
RESOURCES
Water use up during heat wave ERIC PLUMMER ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES
Port Alberni’s recent heat wave resulted in a jump in water usage, raising the likelihood of more stringent measures to conserve the local supply from China Creek. Despite being one of the hottest and driest spots on Vancouver Island, Port Alberni’s water restrictions remain at Stage 1, while other nearby communities have imposed tighter prohibitions. But this could soon change if this summer’s conditions persist. On June 8 the City of Port Alberni introduced Stage 1 water restrictions earlier than any other summer in decades. This limits outdoor use for
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residences and businesses to the cooler hours of 6–9 a.m. and 7–10 p.m. every other day. Even-numbered addresses are permitted to water on even calendar days, with odd addresses using hoses on odd-numbered dates. Enforcement is driven by public complaints, and no fines have been imposed so far. Water usage normally peaks during the summer months, and before the restriction was imposed daily usage had risen to 17,000 cubic metres – equal to 950 litres per Port Alberni resident. Usage dropped to 14,500 cubic metres a day after the prohibition began, but during a heat wave over the weekend – that raised the mercury to 36.6
C on Saturday – daily usage surpassed 16,000 cubic metres. “The last four days we’ve been averaging about 15,900 cubic metres a day,” said city engineer Guy Cicon on Tuesday. The city has not imposed Stage 2 restrictions, but this measure is likely if dry conditions continue. Last month Port Alberni had just 14.2 millimetres of rain; the average precipitation in June is 70.3 millimetres. “We haven’t reached the stream levels and lake levels that would trigger the Stage 2 water restrictions yet,” Cicon said. “Continued dry weather and consumption levels could trigger the Stage 2 water restriction.”
In an effort to conserve the reservoirs the city introduced a switch to the Rogers Creek water park on Monday, allowing the playground’s sprinklers to automatically shut off 30 minutes after an activation button is pushed. “It basically eliminates use when the park is not being used,” said the city’s parks and rec director Scott Kenny. “In the past the way it’s worked is we had an irrigation controller that ran the system. It would turn it on the mornings and shut it off at the end of the day, but we didn’t have the ability to start, stop over the course of that.” See WATER, Page 3
Volunteering leads to job in field of passion
Char’s stage brings ‘honest journeyman’
Port Alberni resident Tanya Shannon will be seen around town promoting a project of West Coast Aquatics.
Jay Aymar will bring his narrative folk tunes on his North American tour to Char’s Landing on Sunday, July 5.
» Community, 5A
» Entertainment, 2B
Inside today Alberni Region 3A Opinion 4A
Community 5A West Coast 6A
ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES VOLUME 66, NUMBER 125
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Sports 8A What’s On 9A
Drive 1B Entertainment 2B
Our Town 3B Classifieds 6B
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