Pockwock Lake supplied 72.9% of Halifax Water's production in FY 2023/24 and Lake Major 26.2%. In 2025 it was the smaller lake that came under pressure: Lake Major customers faced mandatory water restrictions from September 10 to November 12, 2025.
How the autumn unfolded
Halifax Water asked every customer in the municipality to conserve water on August 5, 2025, about four months earlier than the year before. It cut the ecological maintenance flow at the Lake Major Dam from August 16 to November 27 and pumped water from East Lake toward Lake Major from October 30 to November 12. By October 4, overall consumption was down 9%. Customers supplied from Pockwock were asked only to conserve voluntarily.
A second dry year
The dry period ran from July to November 2025, the second dry year in a row at Lake Major. Both supplies reached spill levels in spring 2026. Total production fell to 48,274,430 cubic meters in FY 2025/26, from 49,454,503 in FY 2024/25.
Concentration is rising
Pockwock's share of production has crept up, from 70.1% in FY 2015/16 to 72.9% in FY 2023/24. Its water is treated at the J.D. Kline Water Supply Plant, where disinfection lapses led to boil water advisories on July 1, 2024 and January 21, 2025. The utility's 2026/27 plan funds a C$0.32 million safe yield program and commits to an adaptive planning framework for the drinking water supply.
How Halifax Water's governance, networks and wastewater system fit together, what its proposed C$1.36 billion five-year capital plan covers, and where the system's main opportunities lie are examined in the full report. The full report, Water Systems Overview: Halifax Water, is available for USD 499. For a free overview, read the Halifax Water Utility Snapshot.