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Gatineau residents face fines of $200 to $400 if they get caught watering their lawns at certain times or allowing water to run onto the street, sidewalk or neighbouring properties.
The summer watering restrictions, which began Tuesday, are necessary because the citys population has outstripped the ability of water-filtration plants to supply water, said city spokesman Pascal Laplante.
Businesses face fines of $400 for a first offence and $1,000 for subsequent offences.
The City of Ottawa does not have watering restrictions, but has a water wise campaign to encourage low-maintenance landscaping that requires less water. Gatineau has had lawn watering regulations for years because of concerns about falling water pressure during the summer.
Gatineaus summer watering rules allow homeowners to use automatic sprinklers from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m. at even-numbered addresses on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and odd-numbered addresses on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Manual watering of lawns, trees and shrubs, washing cars and buildings, and filling swimming pools will be allowed at any time except on Mondays when no watering at all is allowed, so that the citys water-filtration plants can top up their reserves.
Bylaw inspectors will be patrolling city streets until Sept. 30 looking for violators. The city issued 33 tickets to homeowners during 2006, 31 for watering lawns at the wrong time and two for washing driveways. The only exception to the regulations is for newly seeded or sodded lawns, for which homeowners can obtain 21-day watering permits from the city.
Washing driveways and patios is banned, as is the use of more than one hose per building at any time. The city also forbids the connection of more than one sprinkler to a tap at any time other than to fill a swimming pool. Mr. Laplante said so many people fill their pools and water their lawns during the summer that water pressure has dropped alarmingly, especially in the Aylmer sector and in the area north of Highway 50.
He said the city plans a new water-filtration plant for Aylmer, but no date has been set for its construction. Nicole DesRoches, director of an environmental group called Conseil rgional de lenvironnement et du dveloppement durable de lOutaouais (CREDDO), said there is enough water for drinking, but people dont need to use it for other purposes during the summer.
It is a question of educating people not to water their lawns any time they feel like it, Ms. DesRoches said. Lawns go to sleep during July anyway, so it is not necessary to water them. It is better to soak your lawn once a week rather than water it once a day. Lawns watered daily develop roots near the surface and are more susceptible to drought.
The City of Ottawas website offers tips on how to decrease water use on lawns, at ottawa.ca/residents/healthy_lawns/water_en.html.
Ottawa Citizen