Metro Vancouver imposed Level 3 water restrictions Monday afternoon after concluding over a particularly hot, dry weekend that not enough water is being conserved and reservoir levels are at record lows.

The restrictions, which include a ban on all lawn sprinkling, came despite Metro indicating last week that it appeared there was no urgent need to bring in the tougher restrictions.

“We looked at our reservoir levels and we looked at consumptions,” North Vancouver City mayor Darrell Mussatto, chair of Metro Vancouver’s utilities committee, said Monday in explaining the need for Level 3 restrictions.

“What we’re finding is that reservoir levels are at all-time lows for this time of year (and) the consumption didn’t come down as we’d hoped,” added Mussatto, who last week suggested that Metro might not need to go to Level 3 despite the province declaring a Stage 4 drought for British Columbia’s most heavily populated region: the south coast and Lower Fraser area.

“We’re dryer than the driest year on record. And the amount of inflows into the reservoirs are such that we needed to go to Stage 3 because they were lower than anticipated.

Mussatto noted that there’s a chance that Metro could eventually go to the highest Level 4 restriction, although that’s unlikely if people get serious about restricting water usage and if the reservoirs begin filling up again.

Metro chief administrative officer Carol Mason, who is also Greater Vancouver Water District Commissioner, said the third stage of the four-stage plan was deemed necessary to prevent any potential water shortages in the future.

“We have implemented stage three water use restrictions to help ensure that we have the necessary supply of water through the early fall for use in our homes and businesses, and for critical community needs such as fire suppression,” she said.

In addition to a prohibition on lawn sprinkling, Metro Vancouver municipalities will not issue lawn sprinkling exemption permits, and municipal parks, ornamental lawns and grassed boulevards will not be watered. Residential pools, hot tubs and garden ponds can no longer be refilled, and personal outdoor vehicle and boat washing is not allowed.

However, commercial car washes remain open because they use recycled water.

Metro Vancouver Chairman Greg Moore said the district’s three water reservoirs are at 69-per-cent capacity, down from the 74-per-cent level last week.

He said 2.4 million residents were using 1.35 billion litres of water daily.

“Because our water reservoirs are lower than our projected average … and we don’t see a lot of water in the foreseeable future, we need to reduce the amount of water that we consume to 1.2-billion litres of water a day.”

If that goal is met, Moore said, area residents should be able to get by with the current water supply until October with little to no rain.

Metro Vancouver lived through Stage 3 restrictions once before, during the 2003 dry spell.

“This isn’t something that we do regularly,’’ said Moore. “This is extraordinary for us. Even when we went through it in 2003, we didn’t do it this early on in the season, either.’’

The water levels are now where they would be at the end of August or beginning of September, he added.

Restrictions do not apply to rain water, grey water or recycled water, and boulevard trees can still be watered but only if done by hand using a spring-loaded shut-off nozzle, or using containers or drip irrigation. Use of sprinklers or soaker hoses is prohibited.

The city of Vancouver will still be watering boulevard trees to ensure their survival and residents are being asked to help out where appropriate.

“If we go to Stage 4, we will water trees exclusively through the use of groundwater from Langara golf course,” said Vancouver parks director Bill Harding. “We are already using groundwater now where practical keeping travel time in mind.”

Meanwhile, garden centres are also bracing for a negative outcome of the prolonged drought and Stage 3 watering restrictions and bigger pest problems are predicted.

Miles Hunter, owner of the David Hunter Garden Centre Group, said that he expects a high rate of returns of plants this fall.

The new water restrictions will mostly affect gardeners who use soaker hoses and sprinklers, he said.

“The restrictions will severely affect newly planted trees and shrubs that have not developed enough of a root system to withstand this drought.

Anyone who has recently planted any trees or shrubs should water them every two to three days and give them a good deep watering to ensure that the roots are thoroughly watered, he said.

“After watering gardeners should dig a small hole near the plants to see how deep the water has penetrated.

“The water should be down four to six inches for shrubs and up to 12 inches below the surface for trees, not just on the top one to two inches.

“You should not water the leaves, focus on watering the soil under the plants.”

If homeowners have gone to their local municipality and got a permit for their newly planted trees and shrubs before the Stage 3 took effect they can still use sprinklers and soaker hoses, he said.

“But now that the restrictions have taken effect no new permits will be issued.”

The restriction will also mean a big problem with chafer beetles next spring.

“This is the time to use the biological nematodes to control the European Chafer Beetle in their lawns but this would require watering every day for two weeks after they have been applied, which they are allowed to do.

“Normally these customers get a permit from the city for this but the city will not issue them a permit now,” Hunter said.

Corwin Timmermans, part-owner of Timmermans Landscaping in Abbotsford, which along with Mission implemented Level 3 restrictions on July 3, said that the stronger restrictions haven’t hurt his company although he’s not putting in as much turf or plants as usual.

He’s also suggesting that some customers hold off on putting in their new lawn until the restrictions are lifted, because for the first two weeks the lawn has to be watered every day.

“If (we) have five jobs and one of them is planting, we hold off on planting a little bit. And we’re not doing any turf unless people understand that they need to water with water that is not from the city.”

Also on Monday, the Vancouver Police Department said that their squad cars will look a little dustier as officers follow the new water restrictions.

“No need to worry,” said Sgt. Randy Fincham. “Dirty cars still catch crooks.”

bmorton@vancouversun.com

With files from Steve Whysall, Vancouver Sun, and The Canadian Press

Stage 3 Prohibitions

Lawn sprinkling is prohibited;

Municipal exemption permits for new‐lawns or nematode application are prohibited;

Watering of trees, shrubs, flowers, decorative planters and vegetable gardens by sprinklers or soaker hoses is prohibited;

Private pressure washing is prohibited;

Washing of driveways, sidewalks and parkades for aesthetic purposes is prohibited;

Washing of all cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats and other recreational and vehicles is prohibited;

Golf course fairway watering is prohibited;

Cemetery lawns - all forms of watering are prohibited;

Municipal parks - all forms of watering are prohibited;

Operation of ornamental fountains is prohibited;

Filling or refilling of private swimming pools, hot tubs and garden ponds is prohibited.

Stage 3 Permitted Uses

Hand watering of trees, shrubs, flowers, decorative planters and vegetable gardens using a spring-loaded shutoff nozzle, containers or a drip irrigation system is permitted;

Watering of turf at turf farms or flowers and vegetables at commercial gardens is permitted.

Hosing of outdoor surfaces (e.g. driveways, sidewalks, roofs) if required to avoid public health and safety concerns or to prepare a surface for painting/sealing or similar treatment is permitted;

Commercial pressure washing for health and safety purposes or to prepare as surface for painting or similar purposes is permitted;

Commercial car wash operations are permitted;

Golf course watering of greens and tee areas at minimum levels required to maintain areas in useable condition is permitted;

Sports playing field (including sand-based) and school yard watering at minimum levels as required to maintain areas in useable condition is permitted;

Artificial turf requiring wetting and outdoor tracks if required for dust control or safety reasons is permitted.

Source: Metro Vancouver

Click here to see the four levels of Metro Vancouver's water restrictions

Click here for advice on how to save water

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