(Photo credit: City of West Kelowna)

By Pete McIntyre

Fines could be issued

Kelowna to start enforcing water restrictions

Aug 6, 2021 | 12:35 PM

The City of Kelowna will start enforcing the current Stage 1 watering restrictions this weekend, rather than introducing Stage 2 restrictions.

Following initial warning notices, city water utility customers who continue to ignore the current restrictions could face fines. Drought conditions in the Central Okanagan remain very high and compliance with current restrictions is the best available measure to delay any further restrictions.

“We want to exhaust all available options before we move to Stage 2 restrictions. The move to Stage 2 will affect every City Water Utility customer and, at this point, we prefer to focus on non-compliance with current restrictions. Most residents follow their watering schedules and we really appreciate that. My sincere thanks to all those people,” said Water Operations Manager Andy Weremy. “Our aim is not to give out fines, but we need to see our consumption come down and greater compliance with the current restrictions. We’re making this announcement so everyone has ample warning that enforcement action is coming.”

The city’s water operations team leaves reminders at properties serviced by the city when irrigation is found running outside of scheduled days. This practice will continue and no one will receive a fine who has not already received a warning. The Water Regulation Bylaw No. 10480 allows the city to levy a $50 fine for infractions during Stage 1 restrictions, $200 under Stage 2 and $400 in Stage 3 and 4. The city will monitor consumption data and deploy enforcement resources as needed. Enforcement will apply to residential and commercial properties serviced by the utility.

“We are at a point where our choices today may impact us next year,” Weremy added. “We had a dry year in 2003 and we were fortunate that 2004 was quite wet and lake levels recovered. There is no guarantee that same thing will happen next year. We need to carefully conserve our water resources in case of a multi-year drought cycle. We ask residents to continue following their watering schedules. I encourage those who have not done so in the past to begin following them now.”

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Stage 1 water restrictions were introduced on July 9 in response to declining water levels in both Okanagan Lake and its tributaries. Under these restrictions, odd-numbered addresses can water on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and even-numbered addresses can water on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Watering household lawns and gardens accounts for approximately one quarter of residential water use in the Okanagan, so it presents an excellent opportunity for conservation.