Believe it or not, summer’s just around the corner, and with that comes long, sunny days—and a lawn that needs watering.
In the past, the CRD’s Regional Water Supply water distribution system has experienced challenges due to high, sudden demands during the summer—this is because of region-wide irrigation system programs that all start at the same time.
On residential lawn watering days, water demand can double with immediate increases that fall on the hour.
During the summer, high demand for water at 4 a.m., 5 a.m., and 6 a.m. on residential watering days is causing unnecessary strain on the CRD’s drinking water supply infrastructure.
To help with this issue, CRD has added new lawn watering times (12:01 a.m. – 10 a.m. on established watering days) to the Water Conservation Bylaw No. 4099 for timed irrigation systems only. This means:
- Odd addresses can water their lawns with timed/automatic irrigation systems on Thursday and Sunday from 12:01 a.m. to 10 a.m., and 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
- Even addresses can water their lawns with timed/automatic irrigation systems on Wednesday and Saturday from 12:01 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
How you can help
- Schedule your timed/automatic irrigation system to start earlier. The
water supply infrastructure needs more water to flow between 12 am
and 4 am. If possible, please program irrigation systems to start
during this time window - Randomize the start time for your automatic/timed watering system
and do not start at the top of the hour. Please ensure that you avoid
starting your system at 4 a.m., 5 a.m., and 6 a.m. to reduce stress on
the water supply infrastructure - Watering days only apply to lawns. Trees, shrubs, flowers, and vegetable gardens can be watered any day of the week (within scheduled times)
- Switch watering to the evening time window
- Remember – healthy lawns only need one inch of water per week
- Watering the yard by hand? Consider switching to the evening time
window to help reduce early morning water demand - Let your lawn go golden! It will go back to green with the fall rains
Need help changing your irrigation system? Email waterwise@crd.bc.ca.
For more information, check out CRD’s website.
