On May 1, 2026, Metro Vancouver activated Stage 2 lawn watering restrictions across the entire Lower Mainland - Vancouver, West Van, North Van, Burnaby, Richmond, Surrey, Coquitlam, the whole region. The unusual part: Metro Vancouver normally eases in with Stage 1 each May. This year they skipped Stage 1 entirely and went straight to Stage 2. As CBC reported, that's unprecedented.
There's no shortage of drinking water. Officials have been clear on that. But the system has less flexibility right now, and getting ahead of summer demand is the practical move.
Why now: three things stacked up
Low snowpack. As of early May 2026, the South Coast snowpack that feeds the Capilano, Seymour and Coquitlam reservoirs was sitting at roughly 53% of normal, about half, according to the BC River Forecast Centre. Heavy spring rain doesn't fix this; without snow underneath, the rain flushes through rather than storing in the reservoirs through summer.
A dry forecast. Environment Canada is signalling a hot, dry summer ahead.
One main is offline. The First Narrows water main, one of the two pipes that carry treated drinking water from the North Shore reservoirs into the region, has been out of service since fall 2025 while Metro Vancouver builds the new Stanley Park Water Supply Tunnel. It's a $495-million, 1.4-km tunnel deep beneath Stanley Park, replacing a 1930s-era water main that's at the end of its service life. The new tunnel will meet current seismic standards and add capacity for the region's growing population. Long-term it's great. Short-term it means less slack in the system through summer 2026.
Sources: Metro Vancouver; City of Vancouver.
What's off the table
Lawn watering is the big one - sprinklers, hose drag, automatic irrigation, all of it, residential or commercial. The City of Vancouver is issuing $500 fines per infraction with no warning period, so it's worth taking seriously.
Also out: filling or topping up decorative fountains, pressure washing driveways, sidewalks, patios and other impermeable surfaces (with very narrow exceptions for health and safety), and water play parks that don't have user-activated shut-offs.
What you can still do - and there's more than you'd think
Your vegetable garden is completely fine. Water it whenever, however, no restrictions. Raised beds, fruit trees, herb planters all count.
Your ornamentals (trees, shrubs, flowers) can be watered by hand or with a drip line any time, or with a sprinkler between 5 and 9 a.m. any day.
Indoor water use - cooking, drinking, laundry, dishes, showers - is unrestricted.
Rain barrels and greywater systems are exempt from the restrictions entirely. If you've been thinking about adding either, now is the moment.
So your patch of grass takes the hit this summer, but your garden, your fruit trees, your raised beds, your window boxes are still yours to look after.
What this means practically
Your lawn is going to go brown. That's not a reflection on your property, it's grass going dormant and it comes back when the fall rains arrive. A brown lawn in August 2026 is, honestly, the mark of a good neighbour.
A few practical moves worth making this week:
Protect what matters. If you have new trees, hedges or landscaping you want to keep alive, set up drip irrigation or soaker hoses, both allowed under Stage 2, before things get hotter.
Stage 3 is expected in early June, which would mean tighter limits on even drip and soaker systems. If there's garden or planting work on your list, do it sooner rather than later.
Mow higher (3–4 inches) and leave the clippings. Longer blades shade the roots and stay greener longer with less water.
Mulch around trees and shrubs. A 2–3in layer cuts evaporation dramatically.
Check your irrigation timer. Plenty of $500 fines this month came from automatic systems the homeowner forgot was set to run.
Stage 2 is in place through October 15, 2026 unless conditions change.
The bottom line
We're firmly pro-brown-grass over at Team TJ. The reservoirs are a shared resource and the math is what it is this year.
Have a property question this is going to affect, a yard you're trying to keep listing-ready, a new build with landscaping warranty requirements or a strata that's still running sprinklers? Send us a note and we'll walk you through it.
