Surrey has been flooded with calls of complaint about people violating watering restrictions.
On Monday (July 20), Metro Vancouver moved to Stage 3 water use restrictions, prohibiting all home water sprinkling.
The sprinkling ban also covers commercial lawns and all parks, cemeteries and boulevards.
Surrey’s manager of bylaw enforcement, Jas Rehal, said officers have issued 900 warnings since June 1 – more than 17 per day.
During that time, the City of Surrey handed out four fines of $250 to violators.
Delta has also ramped up its enforcement, handing out $400 fines. There were four fines issued at Stage 1 restrictions in that municipality, 25 at Stage 2, and on Tuesday, a day after Stage 3 restrictions were put in place, 29 tickets issued. By mid-Wednesday, five more fines were slapped on errant Delta water users.
Now that the region has moved to Stage three, Surrey bylaw officers are moving toward handing out more tickets, instead of just warnings.
Bylaw officials in both Surrey and Delta feel residents should now be fully aware of the restrictions.
Rehal is asking that people who call bylaw enforcement do so if they see watering violations, not just the sight of a green lawn.
Residents can still water shrubs, trees, vegetables and flower gardens using hand held hoses, but only if they have a spring-loaded shutoff nozzle. Watering cans and drip irrigation systems are still allowed, but there’s no watering of gardens or planters using sprinklers or soaker hoses permitted.
Hosing off vehicles and surfaces and all forms of pressure washing are also banned, except for health and safety purposes, as well as commercial pressure washing to prepare a surface for painting or sealing.
Stage 3 restrictions are expected to remain in place until Sept. 30.
Metro Vancouver has only once before gone to region-wide stage 3 restrictions – during severe drought conditions in 2003.
Delta’s website for water restrictions is at http://bit.ly/1Oy622Y
Surrey’s can be found here: http://bit.ly/1qfSqkF