Water Wise Fall
Live green in your yard and garden to help protect our valuable water resource and the environment. With a changing climate and longer dry spells in the summer, our winter water that replenishes the Sooke Lake Reservoir for use over the entire year, will need to last for longer. By preparing in the fall, we can have a thriving yard and garden during the dry summer months and help make sure there is enough available to meet drinking water demand, for fire protection and to support fish and ecosystems.
You can help with these tips:
Convert unused lawn to native plant meadows.
Adapted to our Northern Mediterranean climate, native plants are often pest and disease free with no watering and fertilizer required. Converting traditional lawn to native plant meadows saves time, money and water! Learn how in our upcoming free webinar.
Complete fall lawn care.
Every summer, lawn care is a major draw in our water supply, but a healthy lawn needs less water. Practice fall lawn care for a thriving water wise lawn during the dry summer months:
- Remove dead matted grass by de-thatching
- Aerate to allow water and nutrients to seep into the soil more easily
- Apply lime if needed
- Top dress with compost and overseed with drought-tolerant alternative like micro clover
- Adjust your watering to account for rainfall
Water wisely.
Did you know deep, infrequent watering encourages strong root systems and healthier plants. After a day of rain, consider skipping watering until the following week. Remember the CRD's Stage 1 Watering Schedule is in effect until September 30.
Winterize your irrigation system.
In the capital region’s mild winters, it may not seem necessary to winterize your irrigation system, however even a quick freeze can wreak havoc on irrigation systems and equipment. This fall, make sure to winterize your system to help prevent leaks and damage. Learn how >>
Benefits of Water Conservation
- Lower water and energy bills by reducing your metered usage.
- Reduced environmental impact by deferring the need to supply water from new sources and by reducing the energy and materials required to treat and deliver water.
- Delay in building new water infrastructure that would be necessary to provide increased capacity if demand continues to rise.
- Release of reservoir water to enhance fish habitat in the Sooke River, Charters River and Goldstream River.
- Buffers against the unknown — With the effects of climate change, shorter, more intense rain events and longer, dry spells in the summer months are expected. Having as much water storage in the reservoir as possible provides the assurance that not only will there be a sufficient quantity of drinking water for the year, but provides the flexibility to deal with drought and forest fires.
- Enhanced drinking water quality by maintaining higher water levels in our primary drinking water supply, the Sooke Lake Reservoir.
The capital region enjoys some of the highest quality drinking water in the world at a reasonable cost - maintaining this critical resource requires each of us to make water wise choices each and every day.