'We have to be on top of it': Metro Vancouver residents urged to follow current water restrictions to prevent further ones

Residents asked to conserve water Water-saving warnings continue as dry conditions persist.

As drought conditions worsen across the province, those in Metro Vancouver are unlikely to need to worry about further water restrictions—as long as they follow the current ones—an official said.

Malcolm Brodie, mayor of Richmond and chair of the regional district’s water committee, urges Metro Vancouverites to adhere to the current Stage 1 water restrictions, which entail only watering your lawn once a week—in the morning on Saturdays or Sundays, depending on address.

“I think that if we simply follow that regulation alone, but then add to it don’t waste water washing cars, those sorts at things, I think that we will be absolutely fine,” he told CTV News.

“But again, it takes constant monitoring and we have to be on top of it all the time,” he added.

Some have not been following that regulation, with Vancouver bylaw officers handing out 287 tickets—adding up to $71,750 in fines—for violating the Stage 1 watering restrictions since they came into effect on May 1.

And every day in May and June, more drinking water was used in the region than during the same period last year, and total water use was 21 per cent higher than in 2022.

Couple that with the fact that the region is expected to remain hot and dry in the coming months, “we have to take steps to make sure we’re preserving and conserving the amount of water that we have,” Brodie said.

“It’s not an emergency, it’s simply very, very important.”

The three reservoirs in North Vancouver that supply the region with fresh water were completely full in the spring after rain and snowmelt over the winter, and now—barring the unlikely event of heavy rainfall—we have to make it last until October, Brodie explained.

“We’ll get well into the fall with ease, as long as we take the right steps and do it now,” he said. “Use (water) for the appropriate reasons. We have some of the best drinking water in the entire world and we’re very lucky in that regard, we should not take it for granted.”