Nova Scotia’s Emergency Management Office is ramping up its response to the increasingly desperate water shortage in southwest Nova Scotia.
A few millimetres of rain last night did little to improve the situation, as the number of households without water in the area is now close to 1,000.
The provincial EMO is ramping up its response and donations of bottled water are heading for the hardest-hit regions as early as Friday.
“We will be sending bottled water to affected communities. We're working in partnership with the Retail Council of Canada to do that,” says Zach Churchill, Minister Responsible for the Emergency Management Office.
A number of retailers are sending water, including Sobeys, which has already loaded up 107,500 litres at its facility in Stellarton, N.S., bound for southwest Nova Scotia Friday morning.
“They called us this morning and said, ‘Look, can you help?’ And of course the answer from our members as always is yes,” says Jim Cormier, Atlantic director of the Retail Council of Canada.
Walmart and Loblaws are also contributing water, and the government plans to match donations.
“Wells are drying up, from Yarmouth right up through to Halifax, and we're even hearing reports now as far as the eastern shore,” says Cormier.
CTV News spoke with several well drilling companies who say the dry weather this year has kept them very busy. One operator on the south shore says he's booked solid for the next two to three weeks.
Without new wells, those in the southwest will have to continue collecting water at municipal offices and fire stations.
The Department of Natural Resources is looking into opening more provincial parks to allow people to shower.
But there's little else government can do.
“In order to fix the situation we need about half a foot of rain, to bring the water table up to a place where these wells will be able to hold water,” says Churchill.
A good, soaking rain hasn't happened in southwest Nova Scotia for months. The last time Yarmouth saw at least 20 millimetres was on May 30.
Since then, the most significant rainfall events in Yarmouth have been five mm on June 6, 15 mm on July 10 and 7.4 mm on August 17.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Sarah Ritchie.
