PEMBROKE, ONT. -- It has been very hot and dry through the Ottawa Valley and eastern Ontario so far this summer, leading to water use restrictions, burn bans, and problems for farmers.
The City of Pembroke has issued new water use restrictions, as of Monday night, asking residents to use water for essential purposes only, and to avoid things like watering gardens or lawns.
According to Environment Canada, the Pembroke area received less than 40 per cent of their average rainfall for June, registering about 31 mm for the entire month. Normally, the area gets around 81 mm.
"It’s likely to stay dry, our only hope right now is for thunderstorms to develop in the area. And with thunderstorms, it’s very hit and miss," said Environment Canada meteorologist Gerald Cheng. "We’re hoping that there will be a disturbance developing Saturday into Sunday, and that’s going to give us more cloud cover and break the heat first of all. And second to give us some actual showers."
Ian McGregor, co-owner of McGregor's Produce near Arnprior, tells CTV News without a couple of flash thunderstorms in the region in the past few weeks, their season might have been done already.
"We had a cool, dry spring which creates its own problems," he said. "Then we get these big heat waves at times where the plants are suffering [...] my grass is quite brown."
McGregor adds another heat wave is the last thing he needs.
"It’s getting pretty dry again and with this heat--the heat and the wind it evaporates the water so quickly, it’s hard on the crops for sure," he said. ""If you rely on the water a lot, it’s very damaging. That’s one thing we’re lacking is irrigation; we don’t have much here. So, we rely on Mother Nature a lot to provide us with water."
Burn bans are also in place in the Pembroke Region and the Leeds and Thousand Islands Township and in the City of Ottawa.
