On Thursday it started raining in earnest. This time of year, it’s hard to believe that in Vancouver, we usually go through a dryer period in the summer. When we had a COPE majority on Park Board, we started working on water conservation measures. This can include:
– ensuring that any new water parks or water features in parks recirculate the water, and remediating existing ones where feasible. I
– putting drought-resistant plants and grasses in our parks
– planting trees with root systems that hold water in the soil
Another measure that can be taken is to install water collection systems that gather water in times like these – when it rains heavily – and store them in covered cisterns for use in dryer months. This requires a capital expenditure – money – to build the cisterns in the first place, but it will ensure that in parks that need to be watered in the dryer months – such as those with playing fields or gardens – draw far less from our municipal water system.