Water & Environmental – City of Dawson Creek

Water Stewardship

Thank you for doing your part to celebrate BC Drinking Water Week! We continue to encourage your involvement:

Learn about the work of Water Stewardship in BC.
Learn how we are addressing Water Stewardship in Dawson Creek.

Watershed Stewardship Program

Getting to Know Your Watershed

The City of Dawson Creek gets its water from the Kiskatinaw River. The headwaters of the Kiskatinaw River are close to Tumbler Ridge, in the Rocky Mountain Foothills. A portion of the headwaters are protected within Bearhole Lake Provincial Park. The Kiskatinaw river is a naturally turbid river during most of the spring, summer and fall seasons. During the winter the turbidity is fairly low but the mineral content of the water becomes quite high. Prior to the late 1970s, the watershed was largely wilderness, except for agricultural land in the Upper Cutbank and Fellers Heights settlements. Beginning in the early 1980s development in the watershed escalated with greater coniferous and later deciduous logging and natural gas exploration. Increasing pressure from human activity has impacted the water quality. The City of Dawson Creek has recently started a Watershed Stewardship Program to work with all stakeholders to ensure impact on water quality and quantity is minimized.

Water Treatment

There has been an increased interest in the quality of drinking water in recent years. The City of Dawson Creek is very committed to providing our citizens with safe clean drinking water. For that reason, the City of Dawson Creek has one of the most advanced water treatment plants in British Columbia. It supplies treated water to all of the residents and businesses within Dawson Creek, as well as supplying the Village of Pouce Coupe and many rural water users through the residential and commercial water dispensing stations.

Water Rates

For information about the new water rates please visit the Utilities Department page.

More Information

Water Restrictions

Providing clean water to you and your neighbours is one of the City’s biggest expenses. Daily water use with in the City can double during the summer months, due mostly to outdoor watering and vehicle washing. The City’s new 4-stage bylaw will help conserve water by designating watering days and times for residents, and working in stages to accommodate hot weather and lack of rain. Stage “One” water conservation measures automatically come into effect May 1 through September 30. (Stage 2-4 are implemented as required)

Stage One:

Even-numbered address watering days: Wednesdays and Saturdays between 4:00 am and 9:00 am, and beween 7:00 pm and 10:00 pm
Odd-numbered address watering days: Thursdays and Sundays beween 4:00 am and 9:00 am, and between 7:00 pm and 10:00 pm
Hoses for washing boats and vehicles must have automatic shut-off devices

For more information on the new bylaw, visit the Bylaw Page.