Metro Vancouver lawn watering restrictions to begin May 1

In a sure sign that warmer weather is on the horizon, the Metro Vancouver Regional District says lawn watering restrictions will begin in just a few short weeks.

The district says its seasonal restrictions will begin on May 1, limiting Metro Vancouver residents and businesses to watering lawns only once a week in an effort to conserve water.

“With the changing climate, summers in our region have been longer, drier, hotter, and more unpredictable than in the past,” Metro Vancouver Board Chair Mike Hurley said Friday.

“To ensure that the region’s high-quality drinking water lasts through the coming season, we must practise good conservation habits, like reducing our outdoor water use,” he added.

Stage 1 restrictions mean that allowed lawn watering days are determined by your property’s address and type.

For residential lawns:

• Even-numbered addresses are allowed to water lawns on Saturdays, with automatic systems between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. and manual watering between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m.
• Odd-numbered addresses can water their lawns on Sundays, with automatic systems between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. and manual watering between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m.

Trees, shrubs, and flowers can be watered any day with a sprinkler system between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. or anytime by hand or drip irrigation. Edible plants are also exempt from the watering restrictions.

“In the summer, our water consumption increases by over 50 per cent thanks to lawn watering and other outdoors uses,” said Brad West, chair of Metro Vancouver’s water committee. “We need water for drinking, cooking, and cleaning over anything else, and reducing lawn watering is the simplest, most effective way to lower demand.”

Metro Vancouver’s water supply comes directly from rainfall and the region’s snowmelt and flows into the Capilano, Seymour, and Coquitlam reservoirs.

“These restrictions do not apply to the use of rainwater, grey water, any forms of recycled water, or other sources of water outside the regional and municipal drinking water supply system,” Metro Vancouver said.