Climate and Metro Vancouver's Water Supply

The water in our region comes from the North Shore and Coquitlam Mountains. We depend on snowpack levels and their melt rate to provide enough water to Metro Vancouver during summer. Climate change is impacting our water supply and how we manage it. The Region District publishes a report that outlines annual weather and climate patterns. The following experts are from a report covering 2024.

An overview map of the Metro Vancouver watershed, including weather monitoring stations (orange triangles.) Select the map to enlarge.

Temperature Trends: This year was the third warmest year on record at the Vancouver Airport since 1936 (behind 2015 and 2023). Despite being a warm El Niño year, the coldest temperatures ever recorded occurred during the January deep-freeze. The Orchid Lake weather station in the Seymour WSA dropped to a low of -22.7°C on January 12. December was a stand out month, averaging 2.7 degrees warmer than normal.

Precipitation Patterns:
Annual precipitation amounts were well above normal in 2024. At the Vancouver Airport, this was the wettest year of this century, and among the top 10 wettest years since records began in 1937. October was an exceptionally wet month, which included the record-breaking October 19-20 atmospheric river. The summer months were quite dry, but each month saw at least one moderate rainfall event. July was the driest month, with no rainfall recorded until July 29.

Snowpack:
This was a very poor snowpack year. There was almost no mountain snowpack until the end of February. Conditions did improve in March, but average snow water equivalent values were only half of the historical average at the start of the melt season. Fortunately, relatively cool and damp spring weather slowed snowmelt and kept reservoirs full for longer than expected.

Drought and Wildfire Risk:
Drought was a concern again in 2024, but it was not as exceptional as the previous few seasons. The Lower Mainland basin was at drought level 3 (adverse impacts possible) for most of the summer. There were fewer days in high and extreme fire danger this year than the previous few years. Fire danger was high for most of July; however, well timed storms provided relief when conditions were becoming very dry.

The short of it is that climate change is making it more difficult to predict how much water we will have available for use. Water conservation will continue to be an increasingly important action that we must all take during the summer.

For more information, please read "Water Supply Areas – Climate Report 2024 Annual Weather and Climate Summary" on page 101 of the March 12, 2025, Metro Vancouver Water Committee Agenda.