Metro Vancouver water restrictions pose challenge for city crews

WATCH: The Vancouver Park Board takes extraordinary measures to save trees that are threatened by current heat wave. Elaine Yong has the latest.

Stage 3 water restrictions have created a challenge for Metro Vancouver crews.

From 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., Vancouver Park Board staff water newly-planted trees in an effort to keep them alive through this year’s unprecedented drought.

Crews on the Park Board’s five trucks are running double shifts, pumping 40,000 litres of water into the soil daily. In an effort to reduce potable water use, trucks are filling up from the underground aquifer at Langara Golf Course, whenever possible.

Trees have been showing signs of stress and dropping their leaves, something that usually doesn’t happen until October.

At the beginning of June, Metro Vancouver reservoirs contained approximately 260 million cubic metres of water. A month later, levels were down to 225 million cubic metres and today it’s at 170 million cubic metres, or 60 per cent of maximum capacity.

But Metro Vancouver says if residents and businesses continue following the restrictions, there should be enough water until the fall rains.

Local gardeners are turning their attention to drought-resistant plants and better ways to water plants by hand. Even if a plant or tree looks beyond hope, experts say you shouldn’t give up yet.

“Some plants will just go into dormancy quicker, and hopefully with the moisture in the fall, it will bring back a bit of life into them and in early spring next year, you can prune back all the dead plant material and it will come back,” said Peter Fitzmaurice of GardenWorks.

But just imagine if your backyard was 22 hectares. At Van Dusen Gardens, 25 garden employees now spend most of their day hand-watering.

“We need that three or four days of a good steady flow of rain,” said Normann. “It needs to have a slow saturation. Two or three days would really help.”

– With files from Elaine Yong