By ROY WOOD

Watering restrictions go into effect in Osoyoos on Friday and while Mayor Sue McKortoff doesn’t foresee a substantial water savings, she says the educational aspects of the bylaw are more important.

Lawn watering will be restricted to two days per week. Even numbered addresses may water on Saturdays and Tuesdays and odd-numbers are restricted to Sundays and Wednesdays.

McKortoff said in an interview that she doesn’t think a substantial amount of water will be saved through the restrictions.

“I have the feeling that the amount of water that comes out of somebody’s system is going to be almost the same … because what they are going to do is water a lot more at the times that they can. And that’s OK, too,” she said.

“But what we want is to be pro-active … about how much water we use, because I don’t think that right now we pay attention to that. We assume that there’s lots of water and it’s limitless.”

The mayor said some Osoyoos residents will question the restrictions. “People will look now and say, ‘Oh, my goodness, we’ve got tons of water. Look at the lake.’ They think we’re crazy,” she said.

“We do need to save water. For sure. If we’re in a drought situation, and we could be, we do need to save water.

“I really think that it’s the awareness and the education that’s the primary importance of this. In the long run, if we are better able to think about the water that we’re using then we are going to save it. We’re not going to waste it.”

At a previous council meeting, Chief Administrative Officer Barry Romanko reported that the BC River Forecast centre says snowpack levels are extremely low. Combined with early spring melting, this indicates “an exceedingly dry year.”

Other provisions of the water restriction bylaw include:
◾Properties with automated systems may only water between midnight and 6 a.m. on the permitted days;
◾Manually-controlled sprinkling is allowed only between 6 a.m. and 11 a.m. and from 6 p.m. to midnight;
◾Using a hose for washing boats, vehicles, sidewalks, driveways, parking lots or exterior building surfaces is prohibited;
◾Public sports playing fields and turf farms are exempt where irreparable damage would occur from lack of water;
◾Micro irrigation of flower and vegetable gardens or decorative planters is exempt; and
◾Car washes are restricted to 57 litres per wash.

The Osoyoos Golf Club is not affected by the ban since it uses water recycled from the town’s waste-water treatment facility.