Coming off a dry summer and Stage 3 water restrictions, residents of metro Vancouver will once again be under restrictions leading into the summer of 2016.
Stage 1 water restrictions will go into effect on May 15, 2016, and run until October 15, 2016. This year’s restrictions will come into effect two weeks earlier than past years as a pre-caution stemming from 2015.
Stage 1 water restrictions are reasonable, and primarily focus on how frequently property owners can water their lawns and wash their vehicles. Higher levels like stage 3, which metro Vancouver saw for the first time in 12 years last summer, are more extreme and nearly ban water use for recreational activities. Upon entering stage 3, the City of Vancouver immediately cracked down on water wasters by handing out over 1,000 warnings and fines the first week.
Although the reservoir didn’t run out of water last year, officials have decided to be caution this year in case there’s another brown summer.
“We had extreme conditions. We didn’t really have any measurable rainfall for four months,” said Darrell Mussatto, mayor of North Vancouver and chair of Metro Vancouver’s utilities committee.
Metro Vancouver is currently public input on the lower mainland’s water shortage plan. Those with ideas or suggestions are asked to submit them using this form.