While you might be thinking your lawn and garden could use a drink, the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) is asking folks to observe that level one outdoor watering restrictions are now in effect.
Brian Shoji, the SCRD's manager of infrastructure services, said water supply in the reservoirs is in fair shape right now, but it would only take a couple of hot weeks to get the Coast back into a water shortage problem like last summer.
"There is a finite amount of water. We were in crisis mode last year. We were that close to people in Halfmoon Bay not getting water," Shoji said holding his thumb and fingers together just millimetres apart. "When everybody's watering their lawns and gardens during the hottest days of the summer, these are our peak days that now surpass our treatment facility's capacity."
Under level one restrictions, odd numbered houses on the Lower Coast may use outdoor sprinklers Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 7 to 10 a.m. and Monday and Wednesday from 7 to 9 p.m. Even numbered houses may water Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 7 to 10 a.m. and Tuesday and Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m.
In Pender Harbour, odd numbered homes may water on odd calendar dates and even numbered homes may water on even calendar dates from 7 to 9 a.m. and 7 to 9 p.m.
Residents who use sprinklers outside their scheduled times could face fines from the SCRD.
"It's pretty reasonable if you consider all the times offered. It's probably 10 times more than you need, so most of the regulations out there are for convenience," said Dayton Skei, the SCRD's water conservation assistant.
Skei contrasted the SCRD restrictions with those in Abbotsford where outdoor sprinkling has been completely banned for the summer. Water supplies in the Fraser Valley, unlike the Sunshine Coast, are more dependant on snowpack than rain.
Skei, along with Julie Clark, the SCRD's education and outreach co-coordinator, are now focusing on public education in hopes that water shortages and fines can be avoided.
The message boils down to keeping an eye on your water consumption, inside the house and out, and remembering that whether it's for drinking, washing or putting out a house fire, it's all the same water.
Skei said automated sprinkler and irrigation systems tend to be the usual suspects when it comes to watering during off-hours and are a good place to start for reducing consumption.
"Make yourself aware of the times, especially for automatic systems. People set them up and then just forget about them. It's good to check every month or so, so if something is going wrong, they're not going off 2 a.m., and you'd never even know about it, but it's still using considerable mounts of water," he said.
