Water restrictions issued by the Province of British Columbia may not match those set by the RDOS because they apply to different users and are managed at different scales.

• Provincial restrictions apply broadly and are intended for agricultural irrigators and commercial users with water licences for surface or groundwater.
• RDOS restrictions apply to all users connected to the small water systems managed by the RDOS, including both residential and agricultural users.

The percentage reduction in each water restriction stage is designed to give residents a general idea of how much they should try to reduce the water they are using. Much of the water used by a household in the summer is poured onto lawns, landscaping, and gardens, and this outdoor use is where the majority of wter conservaton should be aimed. So, if a sprinkler usually run for 30 minutes, 3x per week during Stage Normal water restrictions, then they should run for 24 minutes once a week in Stage 2 reductions, when a 20% reduction is requested.

Lawns do not need to be watered every day, or even every second day. Watering this frequently will create a very weak, drought intolerant lawn with a shallow root structure that cannot survive without constant application of water.
Watering lawns deeply but infrequently forces the grass roots to stretch and grow down towards water stores, creating a stronger structure and excellent drought tolerance. Just 1" (2.5 cm) of water applied per week, spread over one or two days is enough to keep grass alive during the peak of the summer. Some of the grass may briefly turn golden, but should bounce back when temperatures fall and there is more moisture in the soil.

Unsure of how much 1" (2.5cm of water) looks like? Try the Tuna Can Test: Place a tuna can (or jar with a 1" or 2.5 cm mark) in the middle of your lawn at the start of watering. When the can/jar is full, note how long that took and that is how much water your lawn needs per week.

Xeriscape does not mean zero-scape! There are dozens of ways to xeriscape your yard without resorting to rock. The word "xeri" just means "dry", so "xeriscaping" just refers to landscaping that needs little water to survive.

The Okanagan Xeriscape Association and Okanagan Basin Water Board are excellent resources for a landscape revamp.

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The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) has adopted a district-wide Regional Water Use Regulation Bylaw and a Regional Water Conservation Strategy specific to the Okanagan-Similkameen.

These bylaws guide how clean water is regulated and used across RDOS-owned and operated water systems.

They focus on:

• Water conservation and efficient use
• Sustainable water management
• Integration of extreme weather management recommendations, such as drought and flooding
• Inclusion of climate change considerations
• Consistent interpretation and application of water regulations

These measures support the responsible use of a limited and valuable resource.

The bylaws and strategies can be found in the Documents section of this page.

The Cross Connection Control Bylaw was presented to the RDOS Board in early 2021.

Once implemented, it will:

• Complete the unification of water use standards across all electoral areas
• Apply to RDOS-owned and operated water systems