By ROY WOOD

Despite the vocal objections of one of its water councillors, Osoyoos town council voted Monday to include the rural areas that use town water in the restrictions town residents have been living with nearly all summer.

The issue of rural residents being exempt from the twice-a-week lawn watering rules, which came into effect in the town on June 19, came to council a month ago after complaints from the public.

Council asked staff for a report, which was delivered Monday and recommended including Irrigation Districts 8 and 9 in the restrictions.

The mayor and five councillors voted in favour of the recommendation. Water councillors Claude Moreira and Sarabjit Rai voted against. (Water councillors are elected in the rural areas at the same time as regular councillors in the town and attend council meetings to represent their constituents on water matters.)

When Mayor Sue McKortoff declared the motion carried, Moreira objected, saying that a provincial order-in-council from several years ago gives water councillors the right to veto any council action that affects rural residents’ water use.

Chief Administrative Officer Barry Romanko left the meeting to check and returned to tell council that Moreira’s interpretation was incorrect.

In an interview, Moreira said he will obtain a copy of the order-in-council and read through it for himself.

He also said that there had been in-camera meetings of council at which water matters were discussed but to which the water councillors were not invited. The mayor and two councillors denied this had occurred and Moreira did not recall the dates of the meetings.

McKortoff said that residents in the rural areas are watering their lawns more than town residents and that extending the restrictions is fair although, “We know that this is a volatile issue.”

The restrictions apply only to residential water use and have no effect on agricultural irrigation.

Besides restricting lawn watering to twice a week, the bylaw provisions 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.

Town Chief Administrative Officer Barry Romanko told council Monday that many residents are watering more than is necessary and a shortage of water to fight a serious fire is a real danger.

He urged residents to water their lawns for the same amount time that they did before the water-use restrictions came into force.

Councillor CJ Rhodes echoed Romanko’s comments and pointed out that water rationing is in place to “solve a real situation that needs to be dealt with.”

An overnight spike in water use on the nights that lawn watering is allowed could lead to a dangerous situation if a large fire were to occur in Osoyoos.