Ladysmith residents are being asked to conserve more water in order to combat the ongoing threat of wildfires.
“This is a proactive measure to ensure that there is plenty of water available to fight a wildfire given the extended hot, dry weather and extreme fire danger in our area,” according to an annoucement on the town’s website.
Stage 3 water restrictions are now in place for the town, Diamond Improvement District, Stz’uminus First Nation and all of the Cowichan Valley Regional District.
As of Thursday night, B.C. Wildfire Service reported that a 179 hectacre fire burning near Nanaimo Lakes is only 25 per cent contained. Crews are also in the Beaufort Range near Port Alberni and at Maple Mountain near Crofton.
This now means that all water sprinkling is banned across these areas and there can be no water of new lawns.
Washing of vehicles, homes, boats, recreational vehicles and trailers, as well as washing driveways and sidewalks is also no longer permitted - the only exception is for the preparation of applying paints or preservatives, or for pouring concrete.
People are being asked to avoid filling hot tubs or pools, unless it’s to top up for evaporation losses to avoid damage to a pump system.
Watering of trees, shrubs and gardens is still permitted between 7-9 a.m. and 7-9 p.m. for a maximum of two hours per day.