News

City of Vancouver encourages you to report illegal lawn sprinkling this summer

by Stephen Hui on June 22nd, 2015 at 12:08 PM
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      It's been a dry year, so it should be no surprise that the City of Vancouver has put watering restrictions into effect this summer.

      If you don't comply, you could face a $250 fine. City hall says you and your neighbours are "encouraged" to report violations by calling 311 or using the VanConnect app.

      For those of you who have lawns, residents of even-numbered addresses are allowed to use sprinklers between 4 a.m. and 9 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, and odd-numbered addresses between 4 a.m. and 9 a.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays.

      "One hour of lawn sprinkling can use as much water as 25 toilet flushes, five loads of laundry and five dishwasher loads combined," a news release states.

      The city is asking residents to be "water wise" by doing the following:

      • "Refrain from watering your lawn and let it go brown"
      • "Report any leaks you notice on City or Park property (indicated when an area is wet when it has not rained)"
      • "Take action to fix any leaks in your own home"
      • "Ensure that irrigation systems are functioning properly and not over watering"

      The watering restrictions will be in force until September 30.

      Comments

      9 Comments

      Cameron Giles

      Jun 22, 2015 at 1:44pm

      So we should snitch on people watering their lawn but watch as the VPD doesn't enforce federal laws regarding the sale of illegal drugs?

      O'Brien

      Jun 22, 2015 at 3:15pm

      Indeed. We should report lawns that are using illegal drugs, as well.

      Vancouver Watcher

      Jun 22, 2015 at 9:49pm

      Now we have a version of the East German Secret Police, known as the Watering Stasi. Too bad we didn't have the same eagerness to go after the law breaking cyclists who are not wearing helmets, going through stop signs and red lights, riding on sidewalks, cutting off pedestrians, totally ignoring the rules of the road and the list goes on and on. Cyclists are the favored ones of Moonbeam and his crowd so breaking the law is ok for them, but no pity for the home owners. Hypocrites

      Can we snitch on unlawful housing costs?

      Jun 23, 2015 at 4:34am

      And Gregor, Christy, Harper, real estate agents, developers (we really need a pejorative term here), the Vancouver Sun's promos for the industry disguised as reporting, other media outlets doing the same, such as "reporting" RBC's mortgage "findings", or the dirty-moneyed millionaires creating our misery?

      Oh no, don't worry about what really matters...just distract yourself with lawn watering...oh, but what's behind lawn water woes? Climate change? Oh, well we're too superficial to get policy or leadership on that, so again, let's talk about snitching.

      Seriously?!?

      Jun 23, 2015 at 5:18pm

      That's right folks! Informing on those who dare squander water is the duty of every member of the Social Justoce League! Asking people to inform on their neighbours for non-invasive bylaw violations is pathetic and only gets the support of sheep.

      Seriously?!?

      Jun 23, 2015 at 11:56pm

      I bet the taxpayer funded City office of Propaganda have a little Pavlik Morozov ready for a mid-summer push. "Heroic child environmentalist murdered for informing on his own father's sprinkler and composting violations" makes an eye catching, if verbose, headline.

      Martin

      Jun 25, 2015 at 7:40am

      Why is watering restricted to 4-9am.? It's summer and daylight begins around 4.45am and people take walks and walk their dogs before going to work-just to be sprinkled by people's lawns along the sidewalks? They should change the timing to be more realistic for automatic lawn sprinklers - how about midnight to 5 am or something?

      Richard S.

      Jul 6, 2015 at 11:20pm

      If the COV is truly serious about this, then I suggest that a little cruise through the very green streets of Kerrisdale will reap any number of water violators. Just look for the new built monster homes with auto sprinkler systems that run all year round, regardless of whether the owners are in the country or not.

      Anonymous

      Jul 23, 2015 at 11:00am

      I saw a water park operating at David Livingston Park- to make is worse, nobody was using it! Strata landscape operations around Olympic village still watering too. Car wash operations, hotel water fountains etc..Fresh water is essential. We all need to do our best to take part in conservation. Using it for essentials: drinking, food production and essential cleaning as necessary right now. Always be mindful , fresh, clean water is becoming a non-renewable resource. We in the wealthy west desperately need to adjust, as many Less fortunate countries in the world already have.