Local customers of all Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) water systems are subject to Stage 1 water conservation rules effective May 1.
This annual transition means those supplied with SCRD water must limit lawn sprinkling to two days per week as well as watering of trees, shrubs, flowers or food producing plants with a sprinkler, soaker hose, or micro-spray to three days weekly. Details on “who waters which days” are included on the region's website.
Use of drip irrigation or watering by hand with a hose and shut-off nozzle for trees or to water plantings other than lawns is permitted at any time during Stage 1. Pressure washing or use of hose supplies to clean outdoor surfaces, vehicles and boats is also allowed during Stage 1, along with the filling of outdoor pools, hot tubs, ponds and water features. Use of water for vehicle washing by commercial facilities is also unaffected.
An April 15 SCRD press release advised water system customers to consider undertaking “work that requires a lot of water” in advance of the start of Stage 1. In terms of the health of the water supply for the Chapman Water System, the SCRD’s largest, the release also noted that a snow survey conducted in early April showed “that the snowpack at Edwards Lake is 49 per cent below average and Chapman Lake is 40 per cent below average. This data and extremely low snowpack is consistent with what is being experienced in other parts of the Province."
“With such a low snowpack, there is potential that we could see Stage 2 water conservation regulations implemented earlier than in previous years,” general manager of infrastructure services Remko Rosenboom said in the release.
As for additions to that system’s watershed supplies from spring rains, Environment Canada reported that the April 2024 precipitation recorded at its Sechelt airport location was 67mm. That was just over half the 102mm counted in the same month of 2023.
The next community water update, which will provide more details on the state of the region’s water supplies, is to be delivered at the SCRD committee of the whole meeting on May 9.
