VANCOUVER — Hundreds of residents are ignoring Metro Vancouver’s strict water restrictions, imposed as reservoir levels drop during an unseasonably hot and dry summer.

In Vancouver, city staff said Wednesday they’ve issued 700 warnings and two tickets since June 1 to individuals violating Metro ’s level 1 and 2 restrictions. Hundreds more in other municipalities have been caught illegally watering their lawns.

Vancouver staff say most of the warnings are the result of patrol officers following up on reports from concerned citizens. The top infractions are related to lawn watering outside of permissible times.

The majority of complaints concern residents watering their lawns at night, said Jas Rehal, manager of bylaw and enforcing for the city of Surrey. He said staff handed out 215 warning letters and two tickets from June 1 to July 2, but he doesn’t have any numbers past that date.

“We are not in a heavy enforcement phase right now but we do want to educate people about the issue,” Rehal said Wednesday. “I think many people have a perception that they will just keep watering and wait and see what happens. Also, there is some confusion about when they can water their lawns.”

Most warning letters are sent out based on calls from neighbours, although municipal officers often issue warnings after coming across people watering illegally. The two tickets were issued to repeat offenders, Rehal said.

In Burnaby, 180 warnings have been issued since June 1, but no tickets. In Richmond, 19 warnings have been issued this year along with four tickets. In North Vancouver district, 77 warnings and one ticket have been issued since June 1.

“We have two water conservation officers who patrol the district, respond to complaints, and speak with residents to educate them on sprinkling regulations and water conservation,” said North Vancouver district spokeswoman Jeanine Bratina.

Under the restrictions, lawn sprinkling is limited to once a week. Even-numbered residential addresses may sprinkle lawns from 4 a.m. to 9 a.m. on Monday; odd-numbered addresses can sprinkle from 4 a.m. to 9 a.m. on Thursday. Golf courses can water fairways once a week.

The hot and dry weather conditions over the past two months have caused regional water levels at the Seymour and Capilano reservoirs to fall to 75 per cent of maximum, levels consistent with late August, said Marilyn Towill, with Metro Vancouver’s water services.

At the moment there are no plans to impose Level 3 restrictions, which would mean no watering at all of residential or commercial lawns, including golf courses. But that could change if no rain falls and consumption stays high.

“We’re just hoping people get the message and start conserving water,” she said.

In addition to the strict lawn sprinkling conditions, the taps on all public and commercial fountains and water features must be switched off. Unless authorized by a municipality, only water play-parks with user-activated switches can be operated.

Private and commercial washing of driveways, sidewalks and parkades, as well as pressure washing, are only allowed for health and safety purposes. Sports playing fields may only use the minimum level of water needed to keep them in usable condition.

Fines are $250, the equivalent of other bylaw infractions such as dogs off-leash or operating power equipment at night.

Darrell Mussatto, chair of the Metro Vancouver Utilities Commission, has asked members of the public to reduce their discretionary use of water.

According to Metro Vancouver, one hour of lawn sprinkling uses as much water as 25 toilet flushes, five loads of laundry, and five dishwasher loads.

The region says demand for water doubles during the hottest days of summer to as much as two billion litres a day.

ticrawford@vancouversun.com

With files from Brian Morton, Kevin Griffin and The Canadian Press

Click here to see the four stages of Metro Vancouver water shortage restrictions

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