Stage three watering restrictions have come to Langley and the rest of Metro Vancouver.
According to Kevin Larsen, the Township’s manager of water resources, local officials were warned Monday that Metro was tightening water conservation measures again.
The region has not seen stage three since 2003.
At stage three, all lawn sprinkling, residential and non-residential, is banned and flowers and vegetable gardens can only be watered by hand, with a spring-loaded shut off nozzle or using drip irrigation.
Refilling private pools is prohibited and outdoor car washing is banned except for cleaning windows, lights, and mirrors.
Even watering cemetery lawns will end under stage three restrictions.
Meanwhile, Langley Township officials are monitoring the levels in wells that provide some of Langley’s water supply.
“The water levels are declining, but it’s not unexpected with the weather we’ve been having,” said Larsen.
So far, the levels aren’t alarming, said Larsen.
Water levels are about half a metre lower than they were at this time last year, Larsen said.
“Still lots of water in the wells at this point,” Larsen said.
The Township has seven wells that serve Aldergrove, seven that feed water into the Metro Vancouver system to blend with water from outside of Langley, and five that serve small local populations.
The water system of Aldergrove is served entirely by wells, and Aldergrove has typically seen more severe water restrictions in the summer.
The East Langley Water Supply Project was supposed to have connected Aldergrove to Metro Vancouver water by now, but delays with the pipeline project have pushed its completion date back to this August.
