Fernie warns of ‘catastrophic system failure’ as wastewater threatens to flood homes, businesses

British ColumbiaResidents of Fernie, B.C. are being urged to stop showering, doing laundry or use any unessential water because the city’s wastewater system is overwhelmed and threatening to flood homes and businesses.Residents urged to conserve water to avoid overwhelming discharge systemAndrew Kurjata · CBC News · Posted: Dec 11, 2025 6:19 PM EST | Last Updated: 2 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 2 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.The City of Fernie, B.C., in the East Kootenay Region, has been experiencing intense rain and snowfall followed by rapid melting, overwhelming its wastewater discharge system. (CBC)The city of Fernie, in B.C.’s East Kootenay region, is urging residents to avoid non-essential water use in order to avoid a “catastrophic system failure” of their wastewater system.”We are asking all residents and businesses to immediately conserve water—please limit laundry, dishwashing, showers, and all non-essential water use,” a city news release says.The community of roughly 6,300 has been experiencing intense rain and snowfall followed by rapid melting, overwhelming its wastewater discharge system. To try and respond to the problem, the city has been releasing untreated wastewater directly into the Elk River at multiple locations, as well as using vacuum trucks to transport waste to other locations, closing parks and trails where the operation is underway.The city says it is working directly with the province in order to monitor and track its work but says the release of untreated wastewater is necessary in order to prevent long-term damage to prevent even larger problems.” Additionally, severe rainfall has resulted in several road washouts and localized flooding in some homes.Across B.C.’s Kootenay region, southern Interior and Fraser Valley, thousands of people are under alert after an atmospheric river hit the region on Wednesday, leading to rapidly rising river levels.The B.C. River Forecast Centre upgraded to a flood warning for Princeton and areas along the upper Similkameen and Tulameen rivers on Thursday. (British Columbia River Forecast Centre)