Droughts can affect your health. Learn about the impact of droughts and what you can do during dry conditions.
A drought occurs when there is less rain or snow than normal over long periods of time. Drought can impact our communities in many ways, including causing water shortages, increasing risks of wildfires and flooding. The more severe and the longer a drought lasts, the greater the harmful effects it can have on people and ecosystems. With climate change, our weather is becoming less predictable, with more extreme hot and dry periods. Year-over-year impacts of extreme weather, combined with increasing demand for water as our population grows, increases the risk of drought.
Protecting our water is important for our health. Drought affects our health in many ways:
- Less water available for drinking water, hygiene or health care.
- Contaminants in drinking water can become more concentrated, making it harder to treat.
- Drier forests increase the risk of wildfires.
- More dust, smoke and plant allergens in the air can affect air quality, leading to respiratory health issues.
- Less water for farming and harder soil can impact local food production.
- Negative impacts on mental health.
- Overuse of groundwater can increase the risk of seawater getting into aquifers.
- Lower water levels in recreational waters, like lakes and rivers, can make activities less safe and increase the risk of brain and spinal cord injuries.
- Prolonged droughts and slow-moving water create ideal conditions for cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) to thrive and produce toxic blooms in lakes, ponds and reservoirs. This can lead to potential beach or swimming advisories and closures.
- Warmer water and lower streams levels can impact key species like salmon and increase the risk of water-borne and other diseases.
Learn more about the health impacts of drought at climatedata.ca
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Who is most impacted?
Not everyone is equally impacted. Some people are more vulnerable to the short and long-term impacts of drought:
- People with chronic medical conditions, such as immune-suppressing conditions, cardiovascular diseases and mental health challenges
- Infants and young children
- Pregnant people
- Older adults
- People who are lower income
- People living in rural communities
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What can you do at home?
Actions we take can make a difference to protect water for ourselves and our communities.
- Drought can affect both water supply and water quality. Find out who your water supplier is and view current water advisories here. Remember: water advisories are about water quality, while conservation notices are about drought levels.
- Pay attention to water advisories and take action, such as boiling or disinfecting water before use.
- Pay attention to drought levels. Even if our region is in stage 1 or 2 restrictions, consider not filling up wading pools or water fountains.
- If it gets really hot, go to public pools or splash parks.
- Visit these websites for tips on how to save water in your home, from checking for leaks to reducing water use.
- Water Conservation Tips (Metro Vancouver)
- Drought preparation and response (Government of B.C.)
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Using a well? How you can protect and conserve water
Drought, as well as flooding or other weather events, can contaminate drinking water. Your water might seem fine, but there can be contaminants you can’t see, smell or taste like chemicals or bacteria, which can become more concentrated as water levels drop. Weather, seasons, drought, floods or other events may cause contamination. You need to monitor water levels and test your well water on a regular basis.
- Learn how to test for various contaminants and where to find accredited laboratories here.
- See Government of B.C.’s guidance for private well owners and water suppliers on how to plan to conserve water in the event of drought, and have plans in place for prolonged events.
- Consider installing equipment to monitor water levels. Aquifer water levels can also be tracked in nearby monitoring wells on the provincial BC Groundwater Level Map.
- If your well has gone dry in the past or is likely to in the future, see Best Practices for Groundwater Wells Going Dry and Drought Preparation.
- If you live near the coast, there may be risks of seawater getting into your drinking water well. Follow B.C.’s Best Practices for Saltwater Intrusion.
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Monitoring drought in our region
The B.C. government has developed several resources to understand, monitor and take action on drought. Information is available in a number of languages: English | 繁體中文 | 简体中文 | Français | ਪੰਜਾਬੀ
Local drought hazard
Communities within a region can be impacted by drought differently depending on their water supply and demand. Community or regional drought levels or water restrictions can differ from Provincial levels. A community with a low drought level could still face restrictions if water supply is low.
Find your community website for local water restrictions
The drought information portal is updated every Thursday during drought season. It tells us how dry the climate is in each geographic region (ranging from a scale of zero to five). It does not tell us about water supply. Water supply can be different across the region, depending on what conservation actions are being taken, water use within the economy and drought planning.
Read the weekly drought monitoring summary. See current drought conditions here.
Note: Drought conditions and monitoring summary are not updated outside of core drought season.
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Fraser Health drinking and recreational water reporting
Fraser Health Environmental Health Officers inspect drinking water systems for regulatory compliance and monitor the results of drinking water samples submitted by operators. Inspection reports and information on recent drinking water advisories are available on our website:
You can also find information on the swimming advisory status of recreational beaches participating in the Fraser Health beach monitoring program here: