Metro Vancouver will introduce its seasonal water restrictions on May 15, earlier than previous summers.
This comes after a record-breaking summer last year when the regional body implemented Stage 3 water restrictions for the first time since 2003. By July 2015, reservoir levels had dropped below 73 per cent and water was being diverted from high alpine lakes.To avert a similar situation this year, Metro Vancouver is enforcing its precautionary Stage 1 restriction levels two weeks earlier than usual. Residential and non-residential lawn sprinkling will be allowed on alternate days based on odd- and even-numbered street addresses.
According to Inder Singh, director of policy planning and analysis at Metro Vancouver’s water services department, this measure was taken “to reflect the kind of conditions we've experienced this past summer, to make sure in the future we're okay with demand."
Cities have several options when it comes to reducing demand and advancing sustainable water management, including metering and tariffs, behaviour change, and water efficiency measures.
A recent study by the UBC School of Community and Regional Planning, found total water use in B.C. dropped from 606 litres per capita per day in 2009 to 494 liters per day in 2016—an 18 per cent decrease—thanks in part to larger cities with dense urban populations like Metro Vancouver.
Authors of the B.C. Municipal Water Survey note that while smaller municipalities have higher water use per capita, and in some cases even saw an increase from 2009 levels, larger municipalities saw a net decrease in water use.
Although the per capita drop among larger cities appears smaller by comparison, the greater number of people living in big cities has a demonstrable effect on overall figures.
While the authors acknowledge inconsistent sample sizes from one municipality to the next, they conclude that “our preliminary examination suggests that the observed drop in water use is being driven by efficiency gains in larger cities.”
A UNESCO International Hydrological Programme report emphasizes that in the face of urbanization, population growth, climate change, and climate variability cities “will increasingly experience difficulties in efficiently managing more scarce and less reliable water resources, as well as in coping with floods and droughts.”
The report goes on to note the urgent need to “improve water resources management in urban areas and to promote strategies, approaches and scientific solutions that will lead towards more effective and sustainable urban water management.”
The Metro Vancouver region is already looking to the future.
With the North Shore snowpack “predicted to be almost non-existent by the year 2080” the City of Vancouver’s Climate Change Adaptation Strategy anticipates that “an increase in annual rainfall will help offset the decrease in source water for . . . drinking reservoirs but longer, drier summers may result in late summer water supply pressure.“
Priority actions to increase water conservation include “water metering and enhanced water education, incentives and conservation programs.”
According to a news release, the British Columbia Water Sustainability act is intended to address “current and future pressures on our fresh water—including groundwater—and position [the] province as a leader in water stewardship.”
While some applaud the act, others argue that it does not go far enough in protecting our water resources.
By Arman Kazemi, May 12, 2016