City council has voted to place Nelson under permanent water restrictions.
What used to be Level 1 water restrictions will be come business as usual, year round. That means lawn watering only every second day.
Under normal conditions, if you have an even numbered street address you must restrict watering your lawn to even numbered days between 4 and 9 a.m. and from 7 to 10 p.m. The same goes for odd numbered street addresses on odd numbered days.
You may water trees, shrubs, flowers and vegetables at any time if you use a hand-held container or a hose with a shut-off nozzle. But if you use a sprinkler, you may only water on Wednesdays and Saturdays if you have an even numbered address and on Thursdays and Sundays if you have an odd numbered address.
Stage 1, 2, and 3 water restrictions, to be applied in the event of drought conditions, would gradually decrease the days and situations watering may be done. These are outlined in the copy of the new bylaw attached below.
The city’s Colin Innes says it’s a matter of climate change and public education.
“Because we are looking at climate change data that is compelling,” he told the Star, “and we can see that drought and water will become a more important issue, we are trying to set a new baseline. Up until now it has been unfettered use unless we put a restriction in place, so the idea here is to get a new mind-set started.”
The amendment to Nelson’s waterworks bylaw passed third reading last week but has still to be adopted.