The Stage 3 water restrictions may have gone into effect three weeks ago but it seems like some Tri-City residents still aren't getting the message about conservation.
Since the tighter Stage 3 rules kicked in late last month, the city of Coquitlam has logged about 450 complaints and issued 77 tickets to residents and businesses.
Steffanie Warriner, the city's manager of environmental services, said city staff have followed up on each call and levied fines to offenders after evidence was confirmed. City council raised its Stage 3 penalties to $300 at its last meeting before the summer break.
In Port Coquitlam, the bylaw division handled 128 water-waster calls between July 20 and Aug. 6; however, only warnings and advisories were handed out. Recently, the city hired two water ambassadors to deliver flyers about the water crackdown and to speak with the public.
And in Port Moody, officers have ticketed 49 times — at a $200 a pop — since Stage 3 started.
The Stage 3 limits were imposed after Metro Vancouver reservoirs dropped to 69%. It bans all home and commercial lawn sprinkling as well as all refilling of hot tubs, pools and garden ponds — the first time such a measure has had to be imposed in more than a decade.
There are no longer exemptions for watering of newly seeded lawns or on ones treated with nematodes to fight chafer beetle infestations. Sports fields and school yards can still be watered at minimal levels to keep them playable. Golf courses can still water greens and tee areas; however, the move to Stage 3 means fairways can no longer be watered.
Residents can still water shrubs, trees, vegetables and flower gardens using hand-held hoses but only if they have a spring-loaded shutoff nozzle.
Hosing off vehicles and surfaces and all forms of pressure washing are also prohibited, except for health and safety purposes, as well as commercial pressure washing to prepare a surface for painting or sealing. That means all outdoor car and boat washing is now banned except for cleaning windows, lights and licence plates for safety.
The Stage 3 restrictions are expected to remain in place until Sept. 30.
Metro's previous move to Stage 2 restrictions had cut allowed lawn sprinkling from three times a week to just one day. As a result, Stage 2 cut daily water consumption from 1.6 billion litres per day to about 1.35 billion.
Metro assumes a worst-case water supply scenario, with no significant rain fall through August, September and into October.
Stage 4 restrictions in the regional district's Water Shortage Response Plan would prohibit all forms of watering with treated drinking water, shut down indoor car washes and eliminate some other exemptions.
