Province urges people to conserve water this winter as drought conditions remain 'extreme'

Katelin Belliveau · CBC News

· Posted: Nov 06, 2025 3:15 PM EST | Last Updated: November 6

With a slim accidental of important rainfall betwixt present and the New Year, the state is urging New Brunswickers to conserve h2o this winter.

"Until important precipitation returns, each driblet saved counts,” Environment Minister Gilles LePage said successful a connection this week.

The state is inactive experiencing below-normal rainfall levels for this clip of year, according to a caller provincial h2o report.

The New Brunswick Water Association said the colder months volition marque it adjacent much hard for wells to beryllium replenished.

"The crushed volition frost up and there’s nary h2o going into the ground," enforcement manager Roger Roy said. "Depending connected the magnitude of snowfall that we person this twelvemonth ... we mightiness spot wells drying up adjacent summertime also."

WATCH | Why freezing temperatures could worsen N.B. drought:

That's wherefore the state is suggesting radical proceed the habits they picked up during the caller summertime drought, specified arsenic taking shorter showers and not washing cars.

It besides suggests waiting until loads are afloat earlier utilizing laundry machines and dishwashers, turning disconnected the faucet erstwhile brushing your teeth and installing low-flow faucets.

The eastbound fractional of New Brunswick experienced "extreme drought" successful September, according to the Canadian Drought Monitor.

The Canadian Drought Monitor, created by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, offers a monthly snapshot of levels of drought crossed the country. (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)

Some confederate regions similar Fundy-Albert fell into the astir terrible class connected the nationalist scale, "exceptional drought."

According to the New Brunswick Water Resource Report, determination were 1 oregon 2 rainfall events successful September. And those lone brought "light to mean rainfall," amounting to 44 per cent of emblematic September rainfall.

Though parts of the state person seen a fewer rainy days lately, Roy said it's not capable for h2o to seep respective feet down into good systems.

"If you instrumentality a shovel, and you spell retired successful your backyard and you excavation a hole, you'll astir apt spot close present ... possibly an inch oregon truthful of bedewed ground," helium said.

"It tin instrumentality months. Depending connected the magnitude of rain, it tin instrumentality years."

According to the province's h2o assets report, Environment Canada is predicting supra mean temperatures and beneath mean precipitation this period and successful December.

Some adjacent Miramichi forced to re-dig wells

Miramichi experienced record-low crushed h2o levels successful September, according to the New Brunswick Water Resource Report. (Shane Fowler / CBC)

Miramichi experienced record-low groundwater levels successful September, according to the provincial report.

Staff members who enactment connected supplying residents with h2o said they are monitoring levels intimately arsenic they trust connected 19 municipal wells to pump an mean of 20 cardinal gallons of h2o into the country each day.

"It's decidedly going to person an interaction for sure," Jay Shanahan, manager of nationalist works for the City of Miramichi, said.

A fig of residents surviving extracurricular the metropolis person had their wells tally adust due to the fact that of drought, Shanahan said, and much radical whitethorn person to see digging caller wells adjacent deeper.

"Most of the ones I've talked to are wrong that 100 [feet] oregon little parameter," helium said. "That seems to beryllium wherever the contented is."

Municipal wells successful Miramichi are typically 400 feet, o astir 122 metres, heavy and tin outgo much than a cardinal dollars to dig, helium said.

Shanahan's household is connected a backstage well, and helium himself has considered redrilling his good — but that comes astatine a cost.

He for an mean residential home, the outgo would beryllium astir $10,000, an estimation he's heard from plumbers and good drillers.

There are signs to look for that bespeak a drying well, Shanahan said. Water mightiness beryllium dirtier, unit mightiness beryllium little and determination whitethorn beryllium much aerial successful the travel of water.

Grand Manan Island saw respective wells adust up this summer, but Mayor Bonnie Morse said she is proceeding from residents that a fewer caller rainy days person helped.

"If we could get different mates of nights of rain, I deliberation that would spell a agelong mode to easing people's concerns," she said connected CBC's Shift.

"Conserving h2o is not thing we should deliberation of lone successful a drought," Roy said.

"In New Brunswick, we person tons of groundwater and we instrumentality h2o for granted. ... It's not thing we should do."