Residential property owners could be banned from watering their lawns sooner if the board endorses a committee decision to move ahead with changes to the Sunshine Coast Regional District’s (SCRD) drought management plan.
Under the new rules, which staff proposed at an April 18 infrastructure committee meeting, lawn watering would be banned at Stage 2 of the SCRD’s outdoor water use restrictions.
“We do need to rethink whether we can manage lawns in this changing climate,” Elphinstone director Donna McMahon said during the discussion.
The new rules would allow commercial food producers to water their crops during Stage 3 and would add extra sprinkling hours for commercial and residential food producers at Stage 2.
Under the existing regulations, lawn watering is banned at Stage 3, as is sprinkling for vegetables. Hand watering crops at Stage 3 is allowed.
A blanket ban on outdoor water use at Stage 4 would remain because it is the most severe restriction and only essential uses for “human health, fire protection, and environmental flow needs” should be allowed, said the staff report.
Sechelt director Darnelda Siegers made the motion to support the new drought management plan, with one slight revision – allowing those with new lawn permits to water during Stage 2. No new permits would be issued for new lawns once Stage 2 is declared.
“We can’t notify people and say two weeks from now we’re going to Stage 3,” said Siegers of her rationale.
Roberts Creek director Andreas Tize voted against the revision, suggesting that the Stage 2 ban on lawn watering would discourage people from installing lawns until the fall when water is more plentiful, but the revision passed.
Staff also recommended that commercial farms be moved to a metered commercial rate in January 2020, and to slightly increase the fines for breaching the bylaw. Gibsons would also be asked to harmonize its drought plan with the SCRD’s.
The rationale for limiting lawn watering earlier is that enough water should be saved to offset the increased water demand for crops, according to staff.
In another report, staff concluded that about 50 per cent of the water used during Stage 2 restrictions is for lawns, though that information comes from other local governments, since the SCRD has yet to conduct a survey looking at how water is used on residential properties.
That report also mentioned that because properties within Sechelt and the Sechelt Indian Government District aren’t yet metered, about 50 per cent of the residential connections on the Chapman System are left out of the analysis.
“We really need to pursue water meters for Sechelt and shíshálh Nation and get those in,” said SCRD chair Lori Pratt during discussions around water use later in the meeting.
