WATER RATS MULTIPLY
METRO VANCOUVER: Hundreds ‘snitch’ on neighbours for not following H₂0 restrictions, but is that kosher?
Hundreds of Metro Vancouver residents have been snitching about suspicious sprinkling
If you’re among the hundreds visited by bylaw officers across Metro Vancouver with a warning to dial down your sprinkler, chances are you were ratted out by neighbours.
Metro’s water restrictions to slow down the rate of its rapidly evaporating reservoirs appear to be turning us into drought-shamers.
Is this an example of good civic duty or bad-karma bait? Does the end (conservation) justify the means (“snitching”)?
Vancouver city’s website says its “priority is making sure everyone has safe water to drink” and also to bathe, toilet and wash dishes and laundry. “So if you notice someone is breaking the lawn-watering regulation, it is a big deal,” the website says.
Hundreds appear to agree. Since June 1, complaints to the 311 line in Vancouver alone have topped 780 or about 20 a day.
“The vast majority of complaints come from the public,” said spokesman Jag Sandhu, who said there have been 600 warnings and two tickets issued in this, the educating phase of the bylaw, which precedes the enforcement stage.
Surrey has issued 215 warnings since June 1, Port Coquitlam 25 in the last three days (all from neighbours), and Langley township 140 calls, including complaints, which “usually come from residents living in the same neighbourhood.”
Surrey bylaws manager Jas Rehal said officers are looking for violators, but “we value the public calling because we want to make sure we don’t misuse our drinking water.”
“It’s not a matter of snitching, they’re concerned about the misuse of water,” he said.
Last week’s ramping up of restrictions to Stage 2, which allows lawn watering for an hour a week, has sparked debate on what’s worse for a community — hose-happy lawnlovers or the neighbours who report them.
Meagan Jones, 32, of Surrey was surprised that her reddit thread took off when she asked: Would you dial 311 to report a neighbour ignoring water restrictions? She noted some worry reporting a neighbour creates distrust and detracts from a sense of community, but she said she would call in a “very blatant misuse of water,” like hosing a driveway.
But “a more neighbourly thing to do would be to bring it to their attention (first),” she said.
Dan Carkner, a library technician from East Vancouver, posted: “I can’t accept that somehow the language of organized crime and omertà applies to municipal violations.”
And he said the word “snitch” is a negative, inflammatory word, and he only called 311 to report a business after it had watered for three days in a row for hours at a time.
But another poster suggested a friendly conversation with the offender: “Ratting out your neighbour will only create further conflict down the road, I guarantee it.”
But the majority were pro-snitching, with one employing choice profanity for those watering their grass, even when allowed, and another suggesting a Facebook page to “start some kind of a shaming process.”
“Drought-shaming” hasn’t migrated yet from California, where residents report violators (especially celebrities) on social media and apps, as one did with “commie lover Sean Penn’s lush green lawn” and others did Wednesday with news of Tom Selleck allegedly stocking up on water from a hydrant.
Vancouver School Board trustee Patti Bacchus used #droughtshaming in tweets Wednesday when calling for a sprinkling ban for lawns and declaring “green laws are the new hummers,” while boasting of her brown lawn. But while the tweet was applauded and ridiculed, the hashtag didn’t take off.
Jones said publishing addresses could be dangerous if it attracted confrontational “social-justice warriors.”
Vancouver sent out a bulletin Wednesday warning “bylaw officers will be escalating enforcement” and the fine is $250. Watering flower and vegetable gardens, decorative planters, shrubs and trees is allowed.