The City of Nelson announced on Tuesday that it is moving to Level Two water restrictions. Those restrictions are:
• Even numbered addresses may water only on Wednesdays, from 4 to 9 a.m. and 7 to 10 p.m.
• Odd numbered addresses may only water on Thursdays, from 4 to 9 a.m. and 7 to 10 p.m.
Editor’s note: the print version of this article, dated August 2, mistakenly leaves out the times of day in the previous two items and only mentions Wednesdays and Thursdays. That is an error; this online version of the restriction is the correct one.
• There are no restrictions on watering with hand held container or a hose with a shut-off nozzle
• Washing sidewalks, driveways, parking lots, exterior building surfaces and windows is prohibited
• Filling swimming pools, hot tubs and garden ponds is permitted
• Micro irrigation and drip irrigation are permitted
• Watering new sod or new grass plantings outside of the permitted restrictions is prohibited
Contravention of Stage Two restrictions can lead to a $200 fine.
The city also announced that it is tapping into its secondary water sources at Anderson and Selous Creeks.
The city’s Colin Innes told the Star that those creeks and the city’s main source, Five Mile Creek, are all diminishing in capacity with the continued warm weather, and that the new water restrictions are in anticipation of the effects of many more days of very hot weather.
But he said Five Mile Creek is still providing adequate water to replenish the main reservoir overnight after it depletes during the day. During the drought of 2015, he said, the reservoir was not being fully replenished overnight.
He also said the intake from Five Mile Creek, situated 6,700 metres above the reservoir, is still providing more water than the intake can collect.
“There is still water flowing over and past the intake structure so there is still more water in the creek than we are pulling from it,” he said.
“Once it gets to the point that it does not overflow that, then you have to be really diligent with tracking it,” he said, adding that at that point further restrictions may be in order.
After this story was posted, it was edited on July 1 by adding the editor’s note above and on July 2 by adding the information about the potential $200 fine.