Southeast Kelowna residents can now water their lawns up to three times a week as the Stage 2 watering restriction has now been lifted.
The area now joins the rest of the city’s water utility customers under Stage 1 restrictions, also known as normal year-round watering restrictions.
Andy Weremy, the city’s water operations manager, said the restrictions were a necessary measure as Southeast Kelowna residents transitioned from the SEKID water system to the city utility to ensure the system expansion had adequate water for domestic consumption, sanitation and firefighting.
Under Stage 1/normal watering restrictions:
- Properties with an odd number address may water yards and lawns on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays; even-numbered addresses may water on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. No properties are to water on Mondays.
- Automatic underground irrigation systems may run between midnight and 6 a.m. up to three days per week.
- Manual sprinklers can operate between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. or 7 p.m. and midnight on the assigned day, up to three days per week.
The city asked residents to adhere to designated days and times and to avoid excessive watering so the system can supply sufficient water for all needs.
“The expansion of potable water into southeast Kelowna has been a massive undertaking and completed in a very short period of time,” said Alan Newcombe, the city’s divisional director of infrastructure. “Commissioning the new system at the start of the peak irrigation season has been a challenge and resulted in an unanticipated negative impact on many of our customers.”
Staff will report to council this fall with a project review to identify any resiliency issues that need to be addressed before the 2021 irrigation season.
Watering restrictions do not apply to properties with Farm Status through BC Assessment or irrigation water use in the area which is sourced from the non-potable supply.
For more information on the city’s water utility, visit kelowna.ca/water.
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