The Village of Fruitvale and Area A of the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary are asking its residents to cut back on water use.
As of Wednesday, Aug. 12, Level 2 water restrictions are in place for users of the Beaver Valley Water Service.
With Level 2 water restrictions, watering lawns with above ground sprinklers can only be done between the hours of 8-9 a.m. and 8-9 p.m. every second day, with odd numbered houses on odd numbered days, and even houses on even days.
According to the Beaver Valley water use report, Fruitvale residents’ water consumption is on the high end of the spectrum.
The Canadian average is 609 litres per day per user, while BC households use 649 litres per day per user. Fruitvale, meanwhile, tops out at 699 litres per day per user.
In a June 8 report to council, Mayor Steve Morissette expressed concern for water use in the Village of Fruitvale.
“In 2009, we (the Village) went through a CBT funded WaterSmart program and set a target of reducing by 20 per cent by 2015.
“We didn’t meet the goal until 2019 because of the wet summer and our use went down by 18 per cent from 2009.
“I think it may be time to look into getting control of our water usage, it’s very costly to treat initially and secondly at the Wastewater Plant.”
Hosing of sidewalks or driveways is forbidden, as is use of sprinklers when it is raining. Watering with ground irrigation systems is allowed only between 2 and 4 a.m. at a maximum of 20-minutes per zone.
“The less water we have to process, the better,” reported Morissette. “I think we need a strategy to reduce the use, maybe some further education of users, maybe some voluntary water meters in representative businesses and homes to gather some further data, or maybe a bylaw requiring them in new builds.”
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