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Water use bylaw misses vegetable gardens, new trees

June 13, 2024   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS

There’s still work to be done to ensure Orangeville’s water conservation measures cover all the bases.

Orangeville resident Matthew Smith asked council when it met on June 3 how vegetable gardens are affected by changes to the drinking water conservation rules that pertain to watering residential lawns.

The town’s Infrastructure Services staff reviewed the municipal Lawn Watering Bylaw to ensure conservation measures will provide sufficient water levels for residents.

Some wells are no longer capable of sustaining their original permitted supply rates and the recommended total safe pumping capacities may be reduced accordingly.

Exceptions were introduced for lawn watering with sources other than municipal water, where a property has a permit issued, where a property has nurseries, farms, turf or tree farms, and other areas such as parks

playing fields and public gardens.

Lawn watering exceptions were removed on even and odd number days of the month, for even and odd number ending properties, and have been replaced with an exception to water one day a week based on the last numeral of the properties’ municipal address.

The bylaw changes enabled the town’s Infrastructure Services general manager or designate to declare a water supply emergency and to further restrict or suspend all lawn watering.

The suspension of swimming pool filling was added to the restrictions imposed in a water supply emergency.

“Is there any exemptions, have they been considered, for goof or vegetable gardens?” Smith said. “Currently, it’s just the standard one day per week in the morning or in the evening.

“There’s nothing listed in the bylaw about food or vegetable production.”

He also wanted to know if the bylaw’s enforcement would be complaint-based.

Newly planted trees require a lot of watering to get established in the soil. Smith suggested there should be an allowance for such trees, just as there is for sod.

Tim Kocialek, the town’s Infrastructure Services general manager, said the bylaw’s enforcement will be complaint-based as the municipality doesn’t have sufficient enforcement staff to enable patrols.

“We can look at the option new trees be considered like new sod,” he said, and added that there have already been discussions about vegetable and fruit gardens.

“We’ll look at amending it as part of that, too,” Kocialek said.

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