Over 1,000 Fines on Vancouver Lawn Lovers

Watering lawns was prohibited from August to October

Metro Vancouver has a lot of homeowners who love their lawns more than letting them go yellow even when there are threats of fines.

From August to October, residents in Metro Vancouver who didn't abide by the water restrictions in a bid to conserve water were slapped with fines worth CA$166,000.

Over 1,000 fines ranging from CA$100 to CA$500 were issued on those who continued to use sprinklers to water their lawns and not leave them dry, and didn't hand water trees, shrubs, flowers and vegetable and fruit patches.

Hand water vegetable patches, flowers and shrubs

This summer there was an unprecedented drought, and the water restrictions were meant to conserve water for essential needs.

"As climate change continues to affect our region's water supply, using water wisely year-round is just the right thing to do, irrespective of a potential monetary penalty," said Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie who is also chair of Metro Vancouver's water committee in a statement.

The City of Vancouver had the most fines at 168, followed by Coquitlam with 154 and North Vancouver with 109 offenders.

These fines probably came after neighbours snitched on them... otherwise how would the respective city authorities know? Other municipalities didn't record any fines because they lacked the manpower to check out possible offenders, or only issued warnings.

But in general residents in Metro Vancouver use too much water at about 270 litres per day. If commercial uses are considered then it jumps to 400 litres per day.

This summer there was unprecedented drought

In the summer water usage dramatically increases in the summer, with nearly 40 percent used for residential and non-residential lawn watering.

"Lawn watering restrictions are an effective way to reduce water consumption for esthetic outdoor uses and ensure that we have enough water for essential needs, such as drinking, cooking and cleaning," said Brodie."

But at least greater awareness of water usage has led to a drop per capita, from an average of 474 litres per day in 2013 to 387 litres last year, below the performance objective of 402 litres.

Nevertheless, the less water we all use in general the better, not just for cities but the planet as well.