Cranbrook city council has given three readings to changes proposed on the community’s outdoor water management.
The plan would allow the city to regulate water use depending on levels at the Phillips Reservoir.
“Whatever we need to do with the water restrictions, we can do year-round, rather than just in the summer if we were looking at cutting back on the watering,” said Mayor Lee Pratt. “The second part of that is putting it under the municipal ticketing system so now if there’s a repeat offender, they can be fined.”
Pratt said the changes have been brought forward by the weather experienced by the community in recent years.
“If we get a really hot spell, and the water table is going down, we don’t have the run-off like we used to have. We’re just being a little proactive,” said Pratt.
City officials note that the original water management bylaw was brought forward in 2006, and no longer meets the needs of the community.
Before the proposal, Cranbrook’s water restrictions went to level two, now updated bylaw will introduce two additional stages.
Stage one will be in effect all year unless otherwise stated, but the subsequent stages will be enacted when the reservoir drops below 80 per cent, 75 per cent and 70 per cent capacity.
The outline of each stage, as described by city council documents, can be found below.
More: Outdoor Water Use and Regulation Bylaw No. 4091