By Cheryl Jahn

PG safe from drought. For now.

Jun 30, 2023 | 3:33 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – The boulevards are drying up and the Province has issued an alert about drought conditions pending as we head into the hottest and driest month of the year. So what defines drought? Well, there are several definitions.

“Meteorologists are climatologists will typically have several definitions depending on whether it’s a middle article drought,” explains Stephen Dery with Environmental Sciences at UNBC. “So that would be a deficit of precipitation, an agricultural drought, which would be a deficit of soil moisture or stream flow drought when water levels go down in our rivers and lakes.”

The City of Prince George has watering restrictions in place year-round. If your house address has an even number, you can water on even-numbered days, odd-numbered houses, watering is allowed on odd-numbered days. Simple. But this city has one of the safest aquifers there can be.

“So our wells are along the Nechako River and we draw from the aquifer,” says Adam Mathison, Supervisor of Water Pumphouses for the City. “So it’s 100 feet below ground. It’s very clean. We’re one of the only municipalities in B.C. that doesn’t require treatment.”

The city draws 18 billion litres of water each year from underground aquifers. There are multiple wells in the city that feed a number of reservoirs around the city.

Spruce Kings fall in Langley to Rivermen

19h ago

Sexual Assault and Harassment

Judge to rule on Canada Post employee's sexual assault and harassment case

Dec 13, 2025

Weather Alerts

Freezing rain warning issued for Prince George-area, snowfall warning remains for Williston, Pine Pass

Dec 13, 2025

“We monitor our usage. We check into it monthly. We check the monitor, the levels in the wells, just constantly paying attention to everything. And so it’s the pump stations that can tend to be a little bit you know, you have to have a certain level of water and then, yeah, you need to maintain a certain level of water in the wells themselves. And then the reservoirs we need to maintain water for fire protection.”

But Dery says things are heating up.

“Yesterday we were at a level three,” says Dery. “So with the forecasts unfolding as it is with a lack of precipitation, even though we did get a little bit of, you know, thunderstorm activity in Prince George, insufficient right now really to bring us back to normal levels. So definitely a serious situation perhaps unfolding right now in British Columbia is not good for forest fires.”

Regardless of the health of this city’s water supply, however, don’t be frivolous with your water use as we head into the driest months of the year.