Vancouver hands out more than $71,000 in water restriction fines as drought intensifies

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Hundreds of Vancouver residents have violated water restrictions, despite a conservation warning from the B.C. government as drought conditions intensify.

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Since water restrictions came into effect May 1, Vancouver has issued 287 $250 fines for breaking water restriction laws for a total of $71,750, according to city staff Saturday.

On top of that the city has issued 395 warnings or letters to residents to advise them of unnecessary water usage.

Watering restrictions are in place from May 1 to Oct. 15 every year and align with Metro Vancouver’s water conservation plan.

Many municipalities, including Vancouver, Surrey and Burnaby, have adopted the restrictions, which were updated by Metro Vancouver last year to only allow watering of lawns once a week. Residents with an even-numbered address can use automatic watering from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. on Saturdays, while those with odd-numbered addresses can water on Sundays during the same hours.

Earlier this week, the minister of emergency management and climate readiness, Bowinn Ma, called on residents and businesses to take urgent steps to cut water use.

She highlighted a report from B.C.’s River Forecast Centre that said the combination of record heat in May followed by early snow melt and persistently low levels of precipitation have created historic drought conditions across the province.

Four B.C. regions, the northeast, Bulkley Lakes and east and west Vancouver Island are currently at drought Level 5, with much of the rest of the province at Level 4, said the report.

At Level 5, conditions are exceptionally dry and all efforts should be made to conserve water and protect critical environmental flows.

Ma said the climate crisis is creating changing conditions in B.C., calling the situation “severe.”

Earlier this week, Metro Vancouver officials said every day in May and June, more drinking water was used in the region than the same period last year, and total water use in those months was 21 per cent higher than the same period in 2022.

The region relies heavily on snowpack to fill the three reservoir lakes — Seymour, Capilano, and Coquitlam — but that water needs to last through the high-demand season from May to October.

With all weather forecasts predicting prolonged dry weather with no significant precipitation for several months, Metro Vancouver staff say water conservation should always be top of mind.

ticrawford@postmedia.com

—with files from Gordon Hoekstra and The Canadian Press

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