Ucluelet First Nation

Ucluelet First Nation without water, and Tonga tsunami surge probed as possible cause

Ucluelet First Nation without water, and Tonga tsunami surge probed as possible cause

A First Nation on Vancouver Island is grappling with a loss of potable water after something — possibly a tsunami surge — damaged its underwater supply line on Monday. Ucluelet First Nation declared a state of emergency this week, banning the use of water for everything except flushing toilets, after a barge towing a log boom severed the line in the inlet between Ucluelet and the Indigenous community of Hitacu. “It’s challenging but we’re working through it,” said Ucluelet First Nation president Charles McCarthy. “Citizens are being informed about our situation as it progresses.” Right now, a tsunami surge following the violent eruption of an underwater volcano near the Tonga Islands is being investigated as a possible cause.

Ucluelet First Nation could be without potable water for over a week after barge damages line

Ucluelet First Nation could be without potable water for over a week after barge damages line

Residents of Hitac̓u, the heart of the Ucluelet First Nation, have been told not to drink, bathe in, or even clean with the water coming out of their taps. Water in the community goes on a return journey to become drinkable — it travels from Hitac̓u across the Ucluelet Inlet to the District of Ucluelet, where it is processed and then flows back to Hitac̓u as potable water. But the submerged water line it travels in is was hit and damaged by a barge on Monday.