Surrey city staff have provided council with an update on water usage here as the city continues to enforce Stage 2 restrictions despite Metro Vancouver moving to a stricter Stage 3 on June 8, adopted by many other cities within the region.
According to a corporate report from Surrey’s engineering manager Scott Neuman and public safety manager Brian Edwards, with the water restrictions currently in place Surrey’s residential consumption “remains consistent with regional averages on a per capita basis.”
Residential lawn watering is restricted under Stage 2.
The Greater Vancouver Water District is responsible for delivering the region’s water, under the Metro Vancouver umbrella. During its June 19 meeting the GVWD board moved to send the City of Surrey a letter requesting that it follow the recommendation to move to stage 3. The GVWD board’s next meeting is set for July 24.
According to the corporate report, Surrey will monitor its water consumption, system performance, weather forecasts and Fire Services operational requirements. “Staff remain prepared to implement Stage 3 water restrictions if deemed necessary, based on the aforementioned considerations and evolving regional conditions, ” the report states.
Councillor Pardeep Kooner noted during council’s June 29 meeting that Metro Vancouver’s website reports all reservoir levels are at a “typical” range and tha Metro confirmed it can purchase more water from BC Hydro, from Coquitlam Lake, But Metro says there are constraints in the system “and even if they bought more water they wouldn’t be able to get it to the residents,” she added.
The report indicates the decision for moving to earlier than seasonal water restrictions was mostly driven water main construction at Stanley Park (First Narrows) behind its April-May schedule, compounded by a “lower than normal” snowpack and a dry summer forecast.
That work is expected to be completed by the end of July.
“So are there projects that are delayed that are affecting our water here in the city of Surrey?” she asked. “That doesn’t come from Coquitlam Lake, so is there another project that they’re working on, tunnel-wise, upgrade, through Coquitlam Lake that is impacting our access to water?”
The report from Neuman and Edwards states that Metro Vancouver draws water from three sources: Capilano Lake, Seymour Lake, and Coquitlam Lake, with the latter managed by BC Hydro, “with the majority of water provided to Surrey from the Coquitlam Lake and Seymour Lake sources via water main crossings near Annacis Island, Port Mann Bridge, and Barnston Island” while the First Narrows water main impacts flow from Capilano and Seymour lakes.
“Also I was looking at their drinking water management plan 2026, that just got updated this year, and it says that their regional target is to keep an annual average water use to a max of 320 litres per capita per day by 2035,” Kooner continued. “So when we’re sitting at 235 litres during some of the hottest times during the year, we’re almost 100 litres per person under consumption from what their own targets say.”
Mayor Brenda Locke said the report “answers a lot of questions and misinformation that we’ve heard in the public, especially with regard to water consumption in Surrey as compared to other places in the region.”
She noted Metro has Surrey’s population numbers “way off,” at 645,506 as opposed to the actual 730,000.
“I don’t know if that’s by design or just they don’t know.”
With the population figure corrected, according to the report Surrey’s water usage is 235 litres per capita, not 266 litres.