Clearwater RCMP investigating after water reservoir fully drained

Police are investigating a sudden water shortage in Clearwater, B.C., that prompted a boil water advisory for all residents in the Interior municipality. 

The District of Clearwater said it filed a report with police after the reservoir servicing the community, located around 110 kilometres north of Kamloops, B.C., was completely drained before a scheduled power outage on Sunday.

In a release, the district said it believes the power to its computerized water distribution system may have been intentionally turned off the evening before, resulting in the draining of the reservoir.

"A staff member found a switch that had intentionally been turned off," said Clearwater Mayor Merlin Blackwell. "We are concerned that this would be somebody that does have the knowledge or acquired that knowledge and had an idea that this would cause chaos in the system." 

The switch is in a remote area, he said. 

"It's not somewhere where somebody would be walking along on a rainy Saturday night," Blackwell said. "Is it somebody with a grudge against the District of Clearwater? There's a lot of possibilities out there." 

Clearwater RCMP have confirmed they are looking into the matter.

He says the depletion of water began after 9 p.m. PT Saturday. 

Since the system was switched off, it incorrectly showed that reservoir levels were holding steady at 80 per cent full, the district said, but the reservoir was already empty when the planned power outage began at 7 a.m. Sunday.

The district issued a boil water notice as a precaution. It will remain in effect until Interior Health says it can be lifted. 

Blackwell says the reservoir is still providing water by connecting to three nearby wells and a gravity feed water system, also known as the "old" reservoir. 

"We feel this was intentional and that is very concerning because health and water are a core function of the District of Clearwater and the delivery of water is highly regulated," Blackwell said.

The district said it is implementing additional security measures around community infrastructure.

B.C. Hydro said it had no connection to the issues at Clearwater's reservoir. 

"B.C. Hydro supplies power only to the facility where the district's electrical system takes over," the B.C. Crown utility said in an email statement. "There were no problems on the B.C. Hydro side of the electrical system."

RCMP say they are hoping people will come forward with more information.