TUESDAY AUGUST 11, 2015
KIMBERLEY HISTORY
JOHN MACKENZIE
Life of a baseball man. See LOCAL NEWS page 3
NHL HOCKEY
JARRET STOLL
Former Kootenay Ice star signs with New York Rangers See SPORTS Page 7
THE BULLETIN
www.facebook.com/ TownsmanBulletin Like Us and keep up to date with all the breaking East Kootenay news.
Like Us TownsmanBulletin Follow Us
@kbulletin
1
$ 10 INCLUDES G.S.T.
PROUDLY SERVING KIMBERLEY AND AREA SINCE 1932 | Vol. 83, Issue 153 | www.dailybulletin.ca
Saturday afternoon Shane Philip entertained an appreciative audience with his eclectic collection of musical instruments on the outdoor concert stage at Centre 64.
Drought rating raised for Kootenays ARNE PETRYSHEN
Late last week, the province announced a Level 3 drought rating for the Kootenays and Lower Columbia regions. With weather conditions expected to remain warm and dry, water users in the Lower Columbia, West Kootenay and East Kootenay regions are being urged to reduce water consumption. Level 3 drought conditions call for voluntary water-use reductions of an additional 20 per cent beyond Level 2 conservation levels (30 per cent overall) from all municipal, agricultural and industrial users. Staff with the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations anticipate that this region could experience significant water supply shortages in 2015. Valerie Cameron, the B.C.’s Water Stewardship Manager
noted stream levels all across time of year. The Kootenay River the province are tracked and at Fort Steele is at 61 per cent of analyzed by the River Forecast its median flow. The Elk River at Centre. Fernie is at 60 per cent of its “When they see median flow. The the conditions River down “What we’re seeing Moyie drop below certain at Eastport is at levels they will now, on Aug. 7, is about 54 per cent make a recomof its median flow. the median we mendation to the “It’s not the groups that are dewould normally see worst,” she said, ciding about the adding many of at the beginning of the streams on drought levels whether to go to a Vancouver Island, September.” Level 2, a Level 3 or the south coast Valerie Cameron Lower Mainland, a Level 4,” she said. The primary asLower Fraser ValB.C. Water sessment comes ley and the Stewardship from automated Okanagan have sensors that moniworse median tor the river levels. levels. Field staff check is undertaken “But the Kootenays are to check on the actual state of starting to get worse,” she said. the rivers and streams. “They are definitely lower than She noted some of those lev- they would normally be on an els: The Bull River is at 61 per average year.” cent of its median flow for this For instance she said the
levels of the Kootenay River at Fort Steele are close to the minimum recorded for this time of year. “What we’re seeing now, on Aug. 7, is the median we would normally see at the beginning of September,” Cameron said. “Normally at this time of year stream levels are at a certain level and they are dropping and will continue to drop into the fall, so people are used to seeing low levels in the fall or going into October, until the water levels start to recharge.” She said there are some places in the south of the province where the water stations are at the historical minimum and below for this time of year. “On Vancouver Island, there are some streams that are completely dry,” she said. “It just looks like a road, there’s no water at all.” See LEVEL, page 4
JOHN ALLEN PHOTO
Enforcement of campfire ban an issue at Koocanusa
RDEK Director looks for ways to compel out of province offenders to pay fines TRE VOR CR AWLEY
Adhering to campfire bans and confrontation between provincial authorities and campers came up at the Regional District of East Kootenay
board meeting on Friday. Area B director Stan Doehle reported situations where Natural Resource Officers (NRO’s) and conservation officers were dealing with tense situations as campers in the Koocanusa region have been lighting campfires without any regard for consequences. Even if authorities issue a fine, there’s no way to compel out-ofprovince campers to pay it, Doehle added. See FIRE, page 4