Water Supply Strategy

At the June 12, 2023, Governance and Priorities Committee meeting, City Council was updated on was is arguably our community's valuable natural resource. Bill Sims, General Manager of Engineering and Public Works, together with Mike Squire, Manager of Water Resources, gave an overview of the City of Nanaimo's long-term water supply strategy. This strategy will ensure we continue to have a supply of clean, safe, and affordable drinking water for our citizens. The south Nanaimo River watershed was examined, and the capacity of our Jump Creek Reservoir was discussed. Basically our water management has been very successful, with conservation strategies resulting in lower usage in recent years. There is sufficient storage in the reservoir system to sustain extreme drought conditions with climate change for the next 20 years providing demand management practices remain in place. Despite our City's population growth, there should be no need to consider any new dam or reservoir at this time. Long term planning of course will be ongoing.