Nova ScotiaBeginning this Thursday, Oct. 23, the Municipality of Shelburne will offer water coupons to any homeowner with a dry well. The coupons are good for four litres per day for every person living in the house.One of the only public places to shower will be shutting off its water on Oct. 31Preston Mulligan · CBC News · Posted: Oct 21, 2025 4:46 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoA dug well gets filled with water in Hants County. In the Municipality of Shelburne, The Islands Provincial Park will stop offering showers at its campgrounds on Oct. 31. People with dry wells have been relying on the local provincial campground to get clean. (Paul Palmeter/CBC)Time is running out for people in the Shelburne, N.S., area who’ve been relying on a provincial campground to take showers during the drought.Scott Parker, his wife and two children, aged three and 11, line up a couple of times each week at The Islands Provincial Park to shower. They have few other options since their well ran dry on Aug. 31.”You have to wait,” said Parker. “When it’s my turn, I try to be as efficient as possible because there’s always a lineup. There’s not one time I’ve been there where there hasn’t been people waiting to get in the shower.” On Oct. 31, though, the park will stop offering the service and shut off its water for the season. The park’s plumbing is all above ground, putting pipes at risk of freezing and bursting as cold weather moves in.”They’ve been a lifesaver, but it’s quite frustrating,” said Parker.When the park turns off its water, Parker and his family will have to line up at the only other public shower option in Shelburne — the Our House Youth Wellness Centre.Lineups at the local laundromat have become part of his and his neighbours’ routine as well. At home, the Parkers flush their toilet once a day and make use of the woods behind their house.”There’s just no end in sight,” said Parker. “I feel like people need to get vocal and push for some sort of assistance with this.”Municipality to give out water couponsBeginning Thursday, the Municipality of Shelburne will offer water coupons to any homeowner with a dry well — four litres per day for every person living in the house. New coupons can be picked up once a week.Municipal staff have also looked into a loan program that would allow property owners to finance well drilling costs through a local improvement charge, which would be paid off through their regular tax bill. While several municipalities, including the District of Lunenburg, Halifax and Barrington, have adopted similar programs, Shelburne staff said in a report that it’s a risky option best left to private lenders.”A municipal loan or grant program only shifts the financial burden of drilling from homeowners to the municipality and, ultimately, to all taxpayers without guaranteeing successful outcomes,” said the report, which will be presented at Wednesday’s regular council meeting.The municipality declined an interview request from CBC News.Ian Spooner, a professor in the department of earth and environmental science at Acadia University, said what’s really needed is rain.”It’s going to take a lot to get the local water table in Shelburne, and in many other places, elevated to the point where there can be a consistent, reliable source,” said Spooner.”The good news is that usually these kinds of wells recover fairly rapidly when the rains do come, and the snow.”MORE TOP STORIES
Limited water options for Shelburne residents with dry wells
