Friday is looking like it will mark a milestone of 51 days of drought in sun-drenched Chilliwack.
However it it rains, as forecast earlier in the week by Environment Canada, it means the longest ever dry spell on record for Chilliwack, 51 days set in 1951, will be broken on Sept. 23.
If it doesn鈥檛 rain, it means the stage 4 , that the Lower Mainland entered on Sept. 15, will continue.
There鈥檚 only been 6.8 millimetres of rain in more than two months, which is less than an inch of water, which fell in Chilliwack on Aug. 3, according to Roger Pannett, Chilliwack鈥檚 volunteer weather observer for Environment Canada.
With more warm weather still to come, Pannett expects the drought records to be exceeded.
鈥淎lso, with the present trace of precipitation, it鈥檚 on target to be the driest September since Chilliwack records commenced in 1879,鈥� Pannett wrote on Sept. 16.
The Chilliwack Progress contacted retired UFV agriculture professor Tom Baumann, who now works as an agri-food consultant, to get his take on the impact the drought conditions might be having on the ag sector as a whole this past summer.
鈥淭his spring was incredibly wet and cool so most crops got delayed,鈥� Baumann said.
Take sweet corn, which was late this year.
鈥淭hose that grew it were faced with having corn ripen too quickly when it finally got warm.鈥�
But in the end those heavy rains were fortuitous.
鈥淭he spring saved our bacon many times over when perennial plants such as blueberries after long inundation with water were able to slowly recover their root systems and actually successfully recover.鈥�
Without the cool, wet spring, farmers would have had an even tougher time.
鈥淎t the same time, weeds took over in some crops, we had crop failures in others, and even some trouble getting the bees to do their job.鈥�
It may seem unrelated to the drought, but there was so much water in the ground from the wet spring that many crops did not suffer as much in 2022 as they did in 2021.
鈥淢ost of our annual crops this year are already off or are close to it, such as carrots and potatoes,鈥� Baumann reported.
He credits the 鈥渋ncredible irrigation infrastructure鈥� put in place in the wake of previous drought episodes, otherwise 鈥渨e would not look as good as we do鈥� heading into fall.
Consecutive B.C. governments put incentives in place that helped establish 鈥渨ater resiliency鈥� for plantings, the former prof said.
Farm producers who switched to a 鈥渨ater-wise鈥� irrigation system were offered an incentive.
鈥淪o while we watch California crops wither as they run out of useful irrigation sources and drinking water, we have managed our water more wisely and it is paying off right now.
鈥淚 do not want to minimize the efforts it takes to have all that infrastructure in place, and we most certainly see the effects of the prolonged drought in our forests. There is a cost to all this, and it is the farmers that pay for it.
鈥淚f you look at the average, our hot summers and cold winters, flooding and drought, over the year it balances, but it seems that weather is getting more extreme and we need to prepare ourselves not only for floods but also for droughts and with it the necessary irrigation.
About 30 years ago no one was ready for any of this.
鈥淭oday we have learned and in most situations, have an answer,鈥� Baumann added. 鈥淏erries are all irrigated, so are most all other horticulture crops.鈥�
He鈥檚 still worried about forage grass and cow corn, as not everyone can irrigate, and they鈥檒l need to be vigilant with perennial crops as the effects of any water stress will show next year and sometimes even longer down the line.
鈥淥verall, if we get a much longer dry period, agriculture will step up, but look at the street trees and those on the lower mountain slopes, they shouldn鈥檛 already have brown leaves. They are going to be weaker heading into winter,鈥� he said.
鈥淲e anxiously watch this and hope to bring all our crops to market and be able to germinate winter cover crops.
鈥淚f we didn鈥檛 have that late spring with so much water, we鈥檇 be in trouble right now.
鈥淏ut let鈥檚 hope for the best, that we get the right amount of rain in time, and not too much in November again.鈥�
Curious about the driest Septembers in Chilliwack鈥檚 history?
There was 2012 when only 6.6 mm of rain fell, 1991 with 8.2 mm, and 1989 with only 8.2 mm of rain the whole month. Compare those Chilliwack totals to the average September rainfall, which is 112.7 mm, on 11 days.
Longest droughts on record for Chilliwack:
51-day drought, July 7 to Aug. 26 ,1951.
46-day drought, June 14 to July 29, 1985.
46-day drought, June 16 to July 31, 2021.
42-day drought, July 2 to Aug. 12, 1960.
41-day drought, July 8 to Aug. 17, 1990.
RELATED:
RELATED:
Do you have a story idea to share? Email:
jennifer.feinberg@theprogress.com
Like us on and follow us on .
