Even as dry lawns lay brown and dormant in the hot, dry summer weather, an informal neighbourhood watch has apparently grown in the Tri-Cities to police water restriction scofflaws, according to information from the cities of Port Coquitlam, Port Moody and Coquitlam.
Dozens of complaints have been made about people watering outside of their permitted hours since cities started implementing the Metro Vancouver rules to conserve water.
In Coquitlam, the city has received 78 water violation complaints since restrictions went into effect on June 30, with complaints continuing to come in since the start of Stage 2 restrictions were imposed last Friday.
And although no tickets have been issued this season, 102 warnings have been issued by Water Conservation Bylaw Officers, according to the city.
In Port Coquitlam, several complaints are coming in each day, with many verbal warnings given out. However, in at least two cases, the city said, the warnings were ignored and the city plans on issuing $150 fines.
In Port Moody, meanwhile, staff are being flooded with calls, about 25 each day, inquiring about Stage 2 water restrictions that went into effect last Friday.
As well, PoMo has received 20 complaints about neighbours flouting the rules since water restrictions were first introduced June 30.
A city spokesperson reported that bylaw officers are responding to all complaints and any violations they witness while on patrol but are focusing on education and giving verbal warnings at this time.
Officers also shut down three pressure washing jobs that do not meet the Stage 2 regulations and have contacted Stratas regarding automated irrigation systems.
Under Stage 2, only once a week sprinkling of lawns is allowed — Mondays from 4-9 a.m. for even numbered houses, and Thursday mornings for odd-numbered addresses.
Hand watering of flowers, vegetable gardens and trees is still allowed. Also, houses with permits for water when applying nematodes to get rid of chafer beetles can still go ahead and water as required for the application to be successful.
Pressure washing is also banned.
