2018 Metro Vancouver Watering Restrictions Start May 1

On May 1, 2018, Metro Vancouver’s Stage 1 lawn sprinkling regulations contained in the new Metro Vancouver Drinking Water Conservation Plan go into effect. The regulations apply to all residents and businesses in the region. Lawn sprinkling will be restricted to TWO periods a week, mornings only.

Did You Know? Lawns only require 2.5 cm (one inch) of water once a week to stay healthy.

Outdoor sprinkling of lawns using hose‐connected or automatic in‐ground sprinklers will be permitted as follows:

Residential Addresses:

• Even-numbered addresses Wednesday, Saturday mornings 4 am to 9 am
• Odd-numbered addresses Thursday, Sunday mornings 4 am to 9 am
• Watering trees, shrubs and flowers is permitted any day, from 4 am to 9 am if using a sprinkler, or any time if hand watering or using drip irrigation.

Non‐Residential Addresses:

• Even-numbered addresses Monday mornings 1 am to 6 am and Friday mornings, 4 am to 9 am
• Odd-numbered addresses Tuesday mornings 1 am to 6 am and Friday mornings, 4 am to 9 am
• Watering trees, shrubs and flowers is permitted any day, from 1 am to 9 am if using a sprinkler, or any time if hand watering or using drip irrigation.

Special permits are available that allow more frequent watering of newly planted lawns. Contact your local municipality for more information.

In addition to lawn watering regulations, there are other water use restrictions when Stage 1 of the Drinking Water Conservation Plan is active.

Some examples are:

• Outdoor car washing and boat washing with a hose with spring-loaded shut off nozzle only
• Watering new, unestablished lawns outside of regulated times requires a municipal permit
• Golf course operators requested to cut water use on fairways as much as possible
• Watering school yards and sports fields from 7 pm to 9 am any day

These restrictions do not apply to the use of harvested rain water, gray water, any forms of recycled water, or other sources of water outside the GVWD/municipal water supply system.

To learn more about these restrictions, and to find out what restrictions are in place in municipalities that aren’t part of Metro Vancouver, visit our Watering Restrictions page.

Please remember to set any irrigation controllers or timers, appropriately. You can find find links to most controller and timer manuals for instructions here. Better yet, here are video instructions for our most popular timer!

Or, book an appointment for spring irrigation start up, and we will set your timer to meet these regulations as part of our service! Book Online here, or simply Contact Us.