Hydro outage on Sunday Oct. 6, information and requests

The District of Clearwater (DOC) is asking residents to be conserve water ahead of the planned day-long power outage in the North Thompson Valley. A notice posted on the website and social media states the following:

In preparation for the planned power outage on Sunday, Oct. 6, from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m, the district is requesting that residents conserve water. To help manage water supply during this period, we ask that you:

The Thompson Nicola Regional District director for Area 'O', Jill Hayward added further information on Sat. Oct. 5 ahead of the hydro power outage which reads:

Here is an official rundown re: BC HYDRO crew's day tomorrow (Sunday, Oct. 6, 7 a.m. - 7 p.m.) to improve power reliability in the North Thompson corridor.

The work planned for this Sunday will go a long way to ensure critical infrastructure is maintained and replaced, resulting in increased reliability as residents head into winter.

In all, there will be about 200 crew members in the field on Sunday in various locations extending from Heffley Creek to Blue River, working to update BC Hydro equipment. A main focus is replacing end-of -life transmission poles.

Crews have been working in the substation doing maintenance work, and vegetation crews will be trimming and removing vegetation in areas otherwise unsafe to work in when the power is on.

There have been overhead highway and roadside digital signs showing messaging about the outage, and have been in place for a few weeks now. There have also been many notifications about the outage in local media.

BC Hydro advises they will also have two crews patrolling the highway with Jerry cans of gas, diesel and bottles of water in case there are any vehicles in need of assistance during the outage.

A number of businesses such as restaurants in Clearwater including Gateway Grill, Hungry Hiker and Double R Pizza will welcome folks to stop by for special menus created for the outage day. BuyLow grocery store will also be open for cash and e-transfers as well as a number of events taking place on Sunday. In Barriere, the BC High School Rodeo will be wrapping up at the North Thompson Fall Fair grounds with those participating well prepared for the outage thanks to pre-planning. In Clearwater there will be a Witches Paddle at Dutch Lake starting at noon at the beach and Sona Music Sand Audio will be open at #14 - 74 Young Road from noon to 4:00 p.m. The Little Fort Jim's Market will also be open for business thanks to their generators.

Fill up your buckets, tubs, containers while feeling thankful for living in such a resourceful valley from Heffley to Blue River until your favourite Sunday evening programming is restored on or before 7:00 p.m.