If washing your car and watering your lawn are cherished summer rituals, then good news: officials say the region is on track to stay at stage-one water restrictions for the rest of the season.
By this time in 2015, Metro Vancouver was already under strict stage three water restrictions, meaning brown cars and yellow lawns.
This year, with reservoirs at 80 per cent, Metro Vancouver Utilities Commission chair Darrel Mussatto says we’re unlikely to see that end of the colour spectrum.
“If people continue to conserve as they have been and using it wisely, and only watering their lawns once a week if they need to water it, we’re in really good shape, looks like we won’t need to go to stage two for the rest of the summer.”
It’s no guarantee, however – Musatto says heavier restrictions could come into play if the situation requires.
“If we do get some long hot dry spells and our consumption starts to go up, we may have to look at that.”
And even still, he says one good year isn’t stopping the region from looking at tighter rules for 2018.
“Stage one will have a slightly earlier start and we will also go to hopefully two days watering, instead of the three. Minor changes like that.”
Consultations on those changes are still underway.
Mussatto says Metro Vancouver is going through about 1.5-billion litres of water a day, slightly above its target of 1.2-billion.
Under current stage one rules, residents can only water their lawns three times a week, and cars can only be washed using spring loaded hose nozzles.
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