Via the Comox Valley Regional District:

Starting Monday, September 12 at 8:00 a.m. until Friday, September 16 at 4:30 p.m. stage three water restrictions will be in place for the Comox Valley water system users including the City of Courtenay, the Town of Comox, Arden, Comox Valley, England Road, Marsden/Camco and Greaves Crescent water local service areas. BC Hydro will be conducting maintenance work at the Puntledge River generating station. The maintenance work being completed is on the generator and to clean the fish screens in the penstock, which happens three times per year, to help redirect salmon back to the river.

“During this time, the Comox Valley water system will be supplying water to residents from the standby Puntledge pump station, “ explains General Manager of Engineering Services Marc Rutten. “The standby station is unable to meet peak demand as well as maintain fire flows resulting in this required heightened restriction. 

For this time period residents are prohibited to water their lawns or pressure wash driveways and boulevards; fill a swimming pool, hot tub or garden pond; and wash a vehicle or boat (other than in a commercial car wash or car dealership).

A resident may:

 i.  water trees, shrubs, flowers, and vegetables on any day between the hours of 4:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. if watering is done by hand-held container or a hand-held hose equipped with an automatic shut-off nozzle;

ii.  water newly planted trees, shrubs, flowers and vegetables by hand-held container or a hand-held hose equipped with an automatic shut-off nozzle during installation and at any time during the following 24 hours after installation is completed;

iii.  use micro-irrigation or drip-irrigation systems to water trees, shrubs, flowers, and vegetables on any day between the hours of 4:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.;

iv.  water all-weather playing fields at any time, but only if failure to do so will result in a permanent loss of plant material; and

v.  use water to wash sidewalks, driveways, parking lots, exterior windows, or exterior building surfaces, but only if necessary for applying a product such as paint, preservative, and stucco, preparing a surface prior to paving or repointing bricks, or if required by law to comply with health or safety regulations.

For more details regarding the stage 3 water restriction bylaw visit www.comoxvalleyrd.ca/restrictions. 

The Comox Valley Regional District is a federation of three electoral areas and three municipalities providing sustainable services for residents and visitors to the area. The members of the regional district work collaboratively on services for the benefit of the diverse urban and rural areas of the Comox Valley.