Environment Canada says Nova Scotia dry spell not 'a one-off'

An Environment Canada climatologist is warning that a dry spell in Nova Scotia that has left some people without water is just a "dress rehearsal" for the kind of weather conditions Canada can expect in the years to come.

"These are little teasers, little dress rehearsals of what we're going to be challenged with more in the future," said David Phillips.

"It's not your grandparent's weather anymore. It's a new weather and it's weird, wild and wacky."

• Farmer struggles to hydrate cattle in 'dry, dry, dry' southwest Nova Scotia

Phillips said parts of Nova Scotia have been drier than normalthis summer, with the Halifax area only receiving about two-thirdsof what it normally does in precipitation.

Officials in Nova Scotia are delivering water to residents ofsouthwestern Nova Scotia that haven't seen rain in weeks and aren'texpecting any for the next couple of weeks. Water stations at schools and provincial parks have beenopened for people to shower.

Water conservation order

The Town of Windsor issueda water conservation order to area residents Thursday

"Due to very dry conditions, lake levels in the Mill Lake Watershed area are lower than normal for this time of year. The situation has continued to worsen on a daily basis," it said.

Residents and businesses aren't permitted to water their lawns or wash cars and are urged to repair any leaky plumbing fixtures. No long showers, unnecessary toilet flushing or leaving the sink tap running are also discouraged "to avoid reaching a potentially dangerous situation," the town says.

'This is a first'

"In order to fix the situation,we need about half a foot of rain to bring the water table up to aplace where these wells will be able to hold water,"Municipal Affairs MinisterZachChurchill said.

He said the communities of Argyle, Shelburne and Barrington are experiencing the most acute shortages, but there have been reports of dwindling supplies in Chester and Guysborough County.

• Winter could make drought conditions even worse in Shelburne

"This is a first, according to the records of EnvironmentCanada," said Churchill. "We have never had a dry spell like thisin this part of the country."

Churchill said water is being provided by municipal water sourcesand volunteer fire departments, along with ground search and rescuecrews who are helping identify people who might be without water.

'You can't stop theweather'

As temperatures warm up across the country over the nextnumber of years, Canadians can expect more dry spells and morefrequently than normal,Phillips said

"Don't think that this was a one-off," he said, addingthat Canadians should also expect the unexpected, as dry spellscould be followed by flood conditions.

"What we need to do is learn from this and figure out how webuild resilience and cushion the blow, because you can't stop theweather."

For farmers, that could include monitoring forecasts and plantingdifferent seeds that require less precipitation, he said. Phillipssaid some may consider digging deeper wells.