The jokes were flowing, pardon the pun, last week when the City of Burnaby kicked off its Stage 1 water restrictions. No wonder. We’ve experienced one of the wettest Aprils on record, and it’s hard to fathom (excuse another pun) that we would ever run out of water here in the Lower Mainland.
But that, as we have learned, can all change in a matter of several dry, hot weeks.
The Lower Mainland’s population has grown, and so has our thirst for water. And because we have seldom experienced a true water shortage, we are also unused to considering that we must ration our water supply.
We are gluttons for water. We wash our cars, our driveways, our vinyl siding and our fences. Everyone seems to have a power washer out on weekends, scouring moss or dirt out of crevices, or blasting patios and decks down. We love our showers and baths, and then there are the backyard pools and hot tubs. We think nothing of leaving a sprinkler on to soak our unnaturally green lawns and we are horrified if a city park for kids does not have a spray park replete with numerous nozzles that shoot water everywhere.
We seem blissfully unaware that our seemingly infinite renewable water resource could ever dry up.
And yet the planet is getting hotter and we are witnessing more extreme weather systems each year.
Thankfully, water metering does have an impact on our unquenchable desire for water. While we may all mouth the politically appropriate slogans about saving the planet, many of us are much more moved by a hit to our wallets than a bumper sticker.
This week the City of Burnaby kicks off its Environment Festival. There’s a lot more to saving the planet than just turning off the water sprinkler, and we encourage residents to drop in on city hall and find out what our local government is doing to keep the city green in more ways than one. From electric cars to enthusiastic recycling programs – it all helps.
And, remember Stage 1 water restrictions are now in effect – check your house number and make sure you’re following the rules.
