It’s war on pesky beetles

WATERING RESTRICTIONS: Exemption for Metro Vancouver homeowners to be reviewed

Metro Vancouver homeowners hoping to kill off the European chafer beetle will soon be exempt from summer lawn-watering restrictions.

At a Metro Vancouver meeting Thursday, the spraying of nematodes and the subsequent high level of watering needed to kill off the beetle will be reviewed as the weather forecast continues to indicate more hot and dry weather.

At a June 11 Metro Vancouver meeting, a water subcommittee put forward a plan to allow for lawn-watering exemptions for a two-week period following a nematode application.

Those who are exempt from the water restrictions because of a nematode application will be allowed to water only between the hours of 4 and 9 a.m.

According to the committee, the exemption is necessary to kill off the widespread devastation being caused by the chafer beetle.

“The increase in the areal extent of lawns damaged by the European chafer beetle grubs and their predators this past winter and spring, in combination with unseasonably warm starts to the summer, could increase water use in 2015 compared to recent years,” the committee pointed out.

This past spring, crows, raccoons and skunks ripped apart lawns all across Metro Vancouver to get at the European chafer grubs. The birds and animals eat the grubs before they turn into a mature beetle that flies off to reproduce and continue the cycle of widespread damage.

The chafer beetle has been causing turf damage in Vancouver for about five years. North Vancouver also saw widespread lawn damage due to the beetle infestation.

It is believed the beetle problem dates back as far as 2001, with it first being noticed in New Westminster. It has slowly been creeping through Coquitlam and Burnaby and into Vancouver and Richmond.

Along with a nematode application at the right time of the summer, garden experts advise maintaining good care of grass and keeping it cut a bit longer than normal.

North Vancouver Mayor Darrell Mussatto, who chairs the Metro Vancouver utilities committee, said the watering exemption is needed to help curb the chafer beetle infestation that has swept through the region.

“You don’t want to put the nematodes down and have them die from lack of watering,” he said.

Mussatto said many municipalities saw an increased beetle problem earlier this year due to the unseasonably warm winter.

But despite the hot and dry conditions right now, Mussatto said Metro Vancouver staff are monitoring the reservoir levels and it is about the same as previous summers.

“We need some rain and now is the time to start conserving water,” he said.

People can still water their lawns three times a week, but if the dry conditions persist, Mussatto said, they will move into a next phase where they allow watering only once a week.

In Vancouver, people caught watering their lawns at the wrong time face a $250 fine. Restrictions will stay in place until the end of September.