Water Conservation and Regulation

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Background

The City provides clean drinking water to our more than 6200 permanent residents, as well as our seasonal and visiting populations. Our primary drinking water supply source is Fairy Creek. We also maintain James White Park Wells as a secondary drinking water source that we can draw from when Fairy Creek is not available, typically during periods of turbidity associated with freshet.

Despite our backup source, the City has struggled with capacity issues due in large part to excessive water use during summer months by residents and businesses. The impacts of climate change and the prolonged periods of drought experienced in our region, are also impacting our primary source and we are seeing an increase in turbidity events related to heat. In addition, our infrastructure is aging, and we need to protect it to allow us to continue to provide high quality service in this area.

Ensuring the Future Health of our Water System

Following industry best practice, and standards widely adopted by municipalities across the province, staff have drafted two bylaws to help regulate, govern and protect our municipal water system and ensure that we are able to provide the high-quality drinking water our community relies on long into the future. At the June 11, 2024 Regular Council Meeting Council gave 1st, 2nd and 3rd reading to a Water Works Bylaw (a bylaw to govern and protect the waterworks system) and a Water Conservation and Regulation Bylaw (a bylaw to regulate outdoor water use during periods of drought and high demand) that will operate in tandem to ensure the health of our municipal water system.

These Bylaws will support the existing Consolidated Water Connection and User Charge Bylaw No. 1594., and the recent Provincially issued orders on our drinking water operating licence require that the City enhance regulation of our water system and prioritize bylaw and policy-driven water conservation initiatives.

Water Conservation and Regulation Bylaw

The Water Conservation and Regulation Bylaw is a key tool for the City to ensure that we are operating within the capacity of our drinking water system and are able to provide quality drinking water, and required water flows for fire suppression even during periods of drought or when our secondary source is not available to us.

Key features of the proposed new bylaw include:

  • Staged outdoor watering restrictions that limit watering to certain days and times, and become more strict as conditions become more serious, giving the City the ability to respond to changing conditions.
    • This starts with Stage 1 (automatically in effect from March 1 - October 15 each year) and escalates depending on a combination of triggers including: reservoir levels, flows in creeks that feed the source, demand exceeding capacity, and Provincial area drought declarations.
  • Provisions against wasting water that are enforceable through fines as required.
    • This allows the City to address run-off, leaks, non-recirculating devices, and irrigation of impermeable surfaces ie. watering driveways, sidewalks.

Exemptions will be in place for food-producing gardens, and there will be permits available in stage 1 & 2 for daily watering of new turf, shrubs, and trees. The bylaw does not apply to water collected by residents through rain barrels or other means.

Water Works Bylaw

The City has developed a draft Water Works Bylaw to regulate, govern and protect our municipal water system from tampering, contamination, or misuse.

The health of our municipal water system is critical to our ability to provide the quality drinking water our community relies on. The inability to appropriately regulate external use of our infrastructure, and enforce when required, is impacting the service we deliver and costing taxpayers money. This new bylaw will provide staff the tools to effectively regulate this essential community service.

In June 2023, staff presented a draft Water Works Bylaw to Council. The draft Bylaw follows industry standards, and includes sections that are customized to deal with more localized issues such frozen water lines.

Key benefits to the new bylaw are that it will allow the City to protect our water system by providing the tools to act on the following areas:

  1. Un-Authorized Water Use and Connection
  2. Damage to Public Infrastructure
  3. Water Leakage on Private Property

The Bylaw would give the City the recourse to deal with tampering with City Infrastructure (which includes unauthorized connection to the City’s water infrastructure like hydrants) through fines, cost recovery mechanisms for work done by the City, and the ability to recoup these costs by applying the fees to tax roll.



Background

The City provides clean drinking water to our more than 6200 permanent residents, as well as our seasonal and visiting populations. Our primary drinking water supply source is Fairy Creek. We also maintain James White Park Wells as a secondary drinking water source that we can draw from when Fairy Creek is not available, typically during periods of turbidity associated with freshet.

Despite our backup source, the City has struggled with capacity issues due in large part to excessive water use during summer months by residents and businesses. The impacts of climate change and the prolonged periods of drought experienced in our region, are also impacting our primary source and we are seeing an increase in turbidity events related to heat. In addition, our infrastructure is aging, and we need to protect it to allow us to continue to provide high quality service in this area.

Ensuring the Future Health of our Water System

Following industry best practice, and standards widely adopted by municipalities across the province, staff have drafted two bylaws to help regulate, govern and protect our municipal water system and ensure that we are able to provide the high-quality drinking water our community relies on long into the future. At the June 11, 2024 Regular Council Meeting Council gave 1st, 2nd and 3rd reading to a Water Works Bylaw (a bylaw to govern and protect the waterworks system) and a Water Conservation and Regulation Bylaw (a bylaw to regulate outdoor water use during periods of drought and high demand) that will operate in tandem to ensure the health of our municipal water system.

These Bylaws will support the existing Consolidated Water Connection and User Charge Bylaw No. 1594., and the recent Provincially issued orders on our drinking water operating licence require that the City enhance regulation of our water system and prioritize bylaw and policy-driven water conservation initiatives.

Water Conservation and Regulation Bylaw

The Water Conservation and Regulation Bylaw is a key tool for the City to ensure that we are operating within the capacity of our drinking water system and are able to provide quality drinking water, and required water flows for fire suppression even during periods of drought or when our secondary source is not available to us.

Key features of the proposed new bylaw include:

  • Staged outdoor watering restrictions that limit watering to certain days and times, and become more strict as conditions become more serious, giving the City the ability to respond to changing conditions.
    • This starts with Stage 1 (automatically in effect from March 1 - October 15 each year) and escalates depending on a combination of triggers including: reservoir levels, flows in creeks that feed the source, demand exceeding capacity, and Provincial area drought declarations.
  • Provisions against wasting water that are enforceable through fines as required.
    • This allows the City to address run-off, leaks, non-recirculating devices, and irrigation of impermeable surfaces ie. watering driveways, sidewalks.

Exemptions will be in place for food-producing gardens, and there will be permits available in stage 1 & 2 for daily watering of new turf, shrubs, and trees. The bylaw does not apply to water collected by residents through rain barrels or other means.

Water Works Bylaw

The City has developed a draft Water Works Bylaw to regulate, govern and protect our municipal water system from tampering, contamination, or misuse.

The health of our municipal water system is critical to our ability to provide the quality drinking water our community relies on. The inability to appropriately regulate external use of our infrastructure, and enforce when required, is impacting the service we deliver and costing taxpayers money. This new bylaw will provide staff the tools to effectively regulate this essential community service.

In June 2023, staff presented a draft Water Works Bylaw to Council. The draft Bylaw follows industry standards, and includes sections that are customized to deal with more localized issues such frozen water lines.

Key benefits to the new bylaw are that it will allow the City to protect our water system by providing the tools to act on the following areas:

  1. Un-Authorized Water Use and Connection
  2. Damage to Public Infrastructure
  3. Water Leakage on Private Property

The Bylaw would give the City the recourse to deal with tampering with City Infrastructure (which includes unauthorized connection to the City’s water infrastructure like hydrants) through fines, cost recovery mechanisms for work done by the City, and the ability to recoup these costs by applying the fees to tax roll.



Page published: 20 Jun 2024, 12:09 PM