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Salmon Arm sprinkling restrictions mean not going with the flow

Watering soon only permitted during specified hours, two days per week
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Sprinkling restrictions in Salmon Arm come into effect May 15. (File photo)

As some people say, there’s lots of water in Shuswap Lake.

That is true, but it doesn’t mean there’s enough to waste, a fact the City of Salmon Arm emphasizes each year.

To make sure there is ample water both for household use and fire protection, sprinkling regulations will come into effect on May 15 through to Sept. 15.

The regulations will allow sprinkling two days per week based on the last two numbers of the street address of your home or business.

City staff have also pointed out in the past that water used must go through the water treatment plant, and treating water costs money. That means the less used, the lower the cost to taxpayers.

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Customers with automatic underground irrigation systems will be permitted to water lawns between 12 midnight and 7 a.m. on the days for their street address.

General sprinkling regulations will allow sprinkling two days per week between 7 and 11 a.m., and from 7 to 11 p.m. The days for street addresses to sprinkle are as follows: no sprinkling for anyone on Mondays; numbers 00 - 33, only Tuesdays and Fridays; 34 - 66, only Wednesdays and Saturdays; 67 - 99, only Thursdays and Sundays.

The city website states that cooperation in adhering to watering restrictions will be much appreciated. However, failure to comply “may result in a fine, metered water rates or a discontinuation of service.”

People in mobile home parks and strata developments are welcome to call city hall for clarification at 250-803-4000.

Last year, with a diminished snow pack, the level of Shuswap Lake at the end of June was worryingly low – even below the level in 2015 which was also a low year.

City staff explained then that the large pumps used require a high level of water in the lake in order to pump properly. If they can’t, the water doesn’t come into the community.



newsroom@saobserver.net

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Martha Wickett

About the Author: Martha Wickett

came to Salmon Arm in May of 2004 to work at the Observer. I was looking for a change from the hustle and bustle of the Lower Mainland, where I had spent more than a decade working in community newspapers.
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