Drought to shut down Canadian rain forest resort

[SoCalDem]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060830/sc_nm/environment_canada_drought_dc_1

Drought to shut down Canadian rain forest resort


A couple is shown walking along the beach near Tofino, British Columbia in this February 5, 2006 file photo. The well-known resort town in a Canadian Pacific rain forest must shutter its hotels and businesses this week because a prolonged drought has slashed water supplies, officials said on Wednesday. (Finbarr O'Reilly/Reuters)

OTTAWA (Reuters) - A well-known resort town in a Canadian Pacific rain forest must shutter its hotels and businesses this week because a prolonged drought has slashed water supplies, officials said on Wednesday. Tofino, perched on the tip of Vancouver Island on Canada's Pacific coast, is in a picturesque region that is popular with surfers and whale watchers. It relies on rainwater to fill its main reservoir, and officials ordered the shutdown because there has been no significant rainfall since June.

"We just don't have the water to offer them, that's all there is to it," Tofino mayor John Fraser told CBC television, noting the town was experiencing its third driest year on record and had ordered businesses to shut from Friday.

"We normally end up getting a good rain sometime along the way (to) bail us out. But this year has just been different ... the weather forecast for the next two weeks, even two months is still continued dry without prospect of rain," said Fraser. Local hotels, restaurant and businesses complained that the closure would cause big losses, since it comes at the start of the popular three-day Labor Day weekend.

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[maxsolomon]

1. it rained like hell in Seattle last night

maybe they got something????

[Gregorian]

2. It's dry as a bone down here in Oregon, as well.

I just took a walk. The pond is several feet down from it's normal summer height. And there is NO runoff. I actually got my tractor stuck in mud last summer. The ground around here is cracked. And the creeks look like they may completely cease running. Pretty grim. However, it may just be a cycle. I don't tend to look at short intervals or local changes as indicators. But, they may be.

Meow!

[Critters2]

3. That clenches it

We need a rainforest in Iowa!