The jokes were flowing, pardon the pun, last week when Stage 1 water restrictions were instituted in the Lower Mainland - including New Westminster.
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 on the wet coast.
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 simply gluttons for water. We wash our cars, our driveways, our vinyl siding and our fences. Everyone seems to have a pressure 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 past week, New Westminster promoted a new electric car service launching in the city. There’s a lot more to saving the planet than just plugging in an electric car. But it’s a good start. It’s also a good start to turn off the water sprinkler and let the lawn turn brown. It won’t kill it. Oh, and it won’t hurt the sidewalk if it has a coat of dirt on it either.
Remember Stage 1 water restrictions are now in effect – check your house number and make sure you’re following the rules.
