Farmers in Kamloops who use the Noble Creek irrigation system may have to find their own sources of water this summer, if this summer’s drought forces the system to run dry before a planned decommissioning this fall.

As water levels on the North Thompson River continue to drop, Utility Services Manager, Greg Wightman, says the City is committed to operating the irrigation system for as long as possible.

“We’ve got a service level on where we will operate that system as far as a river elevation and that is just based on the fact that we can’t operate it beyond that,” Wightman said on NL Newsday.

“We are certainly going to stick to that service level, like I say, so we’re kind of at the mercy of Mother Nature at this point.”

There are 41 total customers who use the Noble Creek Irrigation System, including small-scale farmers and a winery. Former Councillor, Dieter Dudy, who operates Thistle Farm told Radio NL a premature shutdown before the fall harvest would be a disaster.

“In terms of income, I might lose anywhere from $100,000 to $150,000 over this season if I do not have water,” Dudy said. “If that actually happens, I may as well just get a realtor in and sell this property, because I can’t run this without having an income.”

Another user – Fox Creek Farms owner Justin Fellenz – also suggested that the City act lobby on behalf of the users who hope to convince the Agricultural Land Commission to allow non-farming activities like weddings or agri-tourism to take place on their land.

“That gives me a revenue stream that I can then reinvest into the rest of my farming operation,” Fellenz said. “If you have a large piece of land, the only way that you can really make that land productive, long-term, is if you have a hybrid solution.”

Wightman says at this point there are no plans to operate the irrigation system outside of the existing service levels, though he says users would be notified if those plans change.

“We have no direction to go outside of that so once the river does get below our established service levels, that is probably it,” Wightman said, noting it likely won’t be feasible to truck in the amount of water that is needed. “We’ve been communicating with customers throughout the course of the year that we do have this service level and once it reaches a point where we can’t operate outside of that, there is no guarantee of water.”

“We will have some more information coming out to customers kind of where we are at and what we are are looking at, but as far as right now, we’re just operating within that service level.”

The City has also released details about the decommissioning program which will offer existing users money to help them find new sources of water which could include drawing water directly from the North Thompson River or through drilling underground wells.

With Kamloops also poised to hit Drought Level 5, Wightman says the City is also working to finalize its drought response plan – which will include city-wide restrictions on water use – ahead of its release next week.

“At this point, certainly, we’ll have to continue to monitor the river levels just as we are for the rest of the city when it comes to drought, we’ll have to monitor it specifically for Noble Creek as well,” Wightman said.

– With files from Brett Mineer