Restrictions are now in place about when you can water your lawn, depending on where you live in the Regional District of Nanaimo. (Pixabay)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

dry time

Stage 2 water restrictions come into effect early for RDN communities

Apr 1, 2020 | 7:03 AM

NANAIMO — Many mid-island communities are jumping right into alternating water days after a dry beginning of the year.

Stage 2 water restrictions are now in place for the City of Parksville and nine small systems throughout the Regional District of Nanaimo, including Whiskey Creek, Nanoose Bay and French Creek. Drip irrigation and vegetable gardens are exempt.

This means you can water your lawn on even or odd numbered days, depending on your house number, for a maximum of two hours a day between 7 and 10 a.m. and p.m.

Julie Pisani, drinking water and watershed protection program coordinator with the RDN, said those areas skipped stage one because of curious rainfall.

“We experienced a drier-than-normal February and March. In February we saw an average amount of rainfall in total, but half of that fell in one day on Feb. 1.”

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Intense rainfall washed out roads throughout the area and flooded rivers, prompting the Cowichan Valley Regional District to declare a local state of emergency.

The wet weather wasn’t enough to soak the groundwater to an acceptable level.

“The rest of February was surprisingly dry,” Pisani said. “The same thing with March. Up until this week we’d only seen a quarter of the average rainfall for this month.”

Snowpack accumulation is also down to 77 per cent of normal.

Pisani said jumping right to Stage 2 restrictions, which normally come into effect later in the summer, sends a proactive message about water conservation.

Nanaimo, Lantzville, Qualicum Beach and Bowser are under Stage 1 restrictions as normal, which permits sprinkling overnight from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.

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