1,000 wells dry in SW Nova Scotia as drought continues

HALIFAX – Roughly 1,000 wells are now dry in southwest Nova Scotia as residents face the driest conditions ever for the area, according to records from Environment Canada.

The minister responsible for Nova Scotia’s emergency management office said Thursday the province was actively monitoring the drought and would open provincial parks for affected residents to use shower facilities as well as send in bottled water.

Those most affected are said to be in Argyle, Shelburne and Barrington but those in Chester and Guysborough County are also experiencing water shortages.

Barrington’s CAO Rob Frost said residents are doing their best given the situation, as volunteer fire along with search and rescue crews continue to aid in the local response.

“We’ve been helping people with drinking water, we’ve opened up the arenas for showers, we have some washing machines where people can wash clothing and we’ve also been helping people get fish boxes they can fill up to use to flush their toilets,” Frost said.

“Talk to anybody whose been in the area for a long time and they say they’ve never seen it to this state, certainly we’ve had dry summers, but those is one of those one-in-one-hundred years type event,” he said.

“You can walk across just about every river in the municipality right now, where as normally it wouldn’t be possible at all.”

Frost re-iterated what Minister Churchill said Thursday, that only mother nature can help the current situation, as local and provincial officials are simply doing all they can.

“We can’t solve the problem, the only thing that will solve it is a lot of rain,” he said.

Churchill estimated the amount of rain needed at about six inches to return the water table to a normal level, but no significant rain is expected for at least the next three weeks.

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