Even with restrictions ending, experts warn North and South Thompson both near record lows

But even that moderate amount of rain may not be enough to alleviate drought concerns.

“There has been some improvement, but it’s definitely not the end of the drought at this point in time,” Boyd explained.

The downgraded drought status has led the City of Kamloops to end water restrictions. After almost two months of restrictions, the city is pleased with the results.

“We did fantastic, the watering restrictions really had the desired effect,” City of Kamloops, Engineering Manager Deven Matkowski said. “We had a goal of reducing by 25 per cent, and I think we surpassed that, which is great news.”

According to Matkowski, local water restrictions conserved more than 500 million litres of water – enough to fill the Canada Games pool 200 times.

Though drought concerns have improved slightly, we are now heading into the lowest flows of the season.

“The water levels in the rivers are still very, very low – like historically low,” Matkowski said. “Even though our watering restrictions are lifted, we do hope people are smart about how they use it and conserve water. Just because the restrictions are lifted, it doesn’t mean let’s start wasting water.”

While temperatures have moderated after a hot, dry summer, there is no precipitation in the short-term forecast.

“[It’s] the Okanagan, the Thompson, Omenica, the Northeast areas that are still under significant drought conditions,” Boyd said. “There are going to be some of those areas that will continue to be in drought as we move into the winter and then freeze up.”

Depending on the snowpack, Boyd expects low river levels to continue until at least next year’s spring freshet.

by Sydney Chisholm

Even with restrictions ending, experts warn North and South Thompson both near record lows

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