When Colleen Freake wants to shower, the Nova Scotia woman lugs a bucket of water from an outdoor holding tank to her kitchen, where she heats the water on the stove in a large pot.
Once warm, the water is poured back into the bucket and carried to the bathtub, where Freake uses a small plastic container to scoop up just enough water to clean herself with. With no end in sight to the drought in the District of the Municipality of West Hants, every drop counts.
Freake said her daily routine has drastically changed since July, when her dug well in Bramber started to dry out. Since then, she’s been depending on the municipality’s water pickups and private water hauling businesses.
But even then, it’s not enough water for day-to-day life, and Freake said her physical and mental well-being is suffering.
“My partner and I both have had urinary tract infections, partly [because] not drinking enough water or not peeing often enough,” said Freake. “These are really basic human needs that we’re always stressing about.”
‘Exceptional drought’
Parts of Nova Scotia are experiencing what’s called “exceptional drought” — a once-in-every-50-years event — according to the Canadian Drought Monitor. September data from the monitor, which uses federal, provincial and regional data sources, shows most of the province has seen less than 40 per cent of normal rainfall.
Freake said the lack of water is affecting how she operates her small vegetable farm. She worries about keeping her animals hydrated and how to clean the chicken coop regularly.
The extra costs of operating the farm have set her back several years in her financial goals, she said.
“It really calls into question whether or not we farm at all in the future,” said Freake.
Freake said since the municipality shortened its hours of operation for water pickups, it’s been harder and harder to carve the time out of her schedule to drive to Windsor, about 40 kilometres away.
Todd Richard, the municipality’s director of public works, said the municipality had to adjust the hours to conserve water.
“That was a large draw on our system at the worst time of our conditions in a drought. So reducing the hours did reduce the overall consumption,” he said, adding that he feels very deeply for residents.
Operation Make it Rain
He added the municipality has a plan in motion called Operation Make it Rain, which will see water pumped from the Avon River to Mill Lakes, the primary potable water source for Windsor, Three Mile Plains and Garlands Crossing.
Richard said it may allow the municipality to increase the hours of its water pickups, helping people in rural areas.
The municipality approved a $350,000 emergency funding request on Oct. 7 to pay for the project’s materials, equipment and labour.
“We’ll be supplementing water into the Mill Lakes watershed hopefully in the next couple weeks,” said Richard. “It’s a short-term plan. $350,000 is a lot of money, but it’s a fraction of the price it would be to supplement water through groundwater sources.”
The future of the drought
CBC meteorologist Ryan Snoddon said that to combat the current drought, there needs to be significant rainfall “for weeks and even months.”
“Unfortunately, when looking at the long range, I’m not seeing a favourable signal for that change coming over the next couple of weeks,” he said Tuesday.
“I am at least seeing some wet weather later this week and again next week, and every little bit helps.”
In the meantime, Freake said the drought will continue to affect people in her community.
“As a farmer, I’ve been living very close to the cycles of nature for 15 years. And there’s never been a time that I’ve seen this kind of condition of the soil, of our forests, of our communities,” she said.
“The level of stress is extremely high in our communities.”
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