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On May 1, Metro Vancouver will skip Stage 1 of water restrictions and move straight to Stage 2.
“We really need folks to pay attention to that outdoor use this year,” Linda Parkinson with Metro Vancouver Water Services said on Friday.
Officials say it is unprecedented this early in the year to move to Stage 2, but with a dry forecast and a low snowpack, it is necessary.
“Like the province announced on Friday, we’re also being told to prepare for drought conditions this summer,” Parkinson said. “So we’re looking at an El Niño summer.”
Metro Vancouver is also pointing to a strain on the system from the ongoing water supply tunnel replacement through Stanley Park.
Under Stage 2 conditions, all residential and non-residential lawn watering is banned.
Residents can water trees, shrubs and flowers any day from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. if using an automatic or manual sprinkler, or any time if hand watering or using drip irrigation. Hoses must have an automatic shut-off nozzle.
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Vegetable gardens can be watered at any time.
Non-residential property owners can water trees, shrubs, and flowers any day from 4 a.m. to 9 a.m. if using an automatic or manual sprinkler, or any time if hand watering or using drip irrigation. Hoses must have an automatic shut-off nozzle.
Vegetable gardens can be watered at any time.
“Lawns will go brown in the summer, and they will start to bounce back in the fall,” Jerry Dobrovolny, Metro Vancouver CAO, said.
Parkinson said there are other bans around pressure washing and other restrictions posted online.
“We do expect that we will need to go to Stage 3 in early June, and we’ll continue to share information as it becomes available,” Dobrovolny said.
Stage 3 has not been activated since 2015.
It would include bans on washing vehicles and filling pools or hot tubs without a permit.
Metro Vancouver is reassuring the public that there is no shortage of drinking water.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
