Maple Ridge Water Restrictions 2026
Published: May 5, 2026
Metro Vancouver Regional District · British Columbia
Restrictions Active - Stage 2 — All Lawn Watering Banned
0
Lawn Days/Week
Lawn: Prohibited every day
Allowed Hours
Starting at $450 per infraction
Fine
What is banned
Stage 2 prohibits all lawn watering in Maple Ridge. Trees, shrubs, perennials, and flower beds may be watered any day from 5:00 AM to 9:00 AM with a sprinkler, or any time with a hand-held hose fitted with an automatic shut-off nozzle, or by drip irrigation or soaker hose. Vegetable gardens may be watered any time.
What is still allowed
💧 Hand watering
Trees, shrubs, flowers, and vegetable gardens — any time with a hand-held hose fitted with an automatic shut-off nozzle.
🌿 Drip irrigation & soaker hoses
Permitted any time. Drip is exempt from sprinkler hour windows.
🥬 Vegetable gardens
Watering vegetable gardens by hand or drip is permitted at any time, even during the strictest stages.
🪣 Rain barrels
Rainwater collected on your own property is unrestricted and may be used at any time for any purpose.
Fines & enforcement
Starting at $450 per infraction
Maple Ridge Bylaw Enforcement issues fines starting at $450 per infraction under the Maple Ridge Water Use Restriction Bylaw — slightly lower than Vancouver's $500 base because the bylaw was last revised before the regional alignment. There is no warning period; officers patrol residential neighbourhoods and respond to complaints submitted at 604-463-5221.
Effective: May 1, 2026🏠 Strata rules
BC strata corporations cannot fine residents or owners for brown or dormant lawns during active regional water restrictions. A strata bylaw requiring lawn watering in conflict with Metro Vancouver Stage 2 is unenforceable under the BC Strata Property Act.
Why these restrictions exist in Maple Ridge
Maple Ridge — a northeast Metro Vancouver city of approximately 95,000 north of the Fraser River, bordered by Pitt Meadows to the west and the Alouette Lake watershed and Golden Ears Provincial Park to the north — is bound by Metro Vancouver Stage 2 effective May 1, 2026. Metro Vancouver went straight to Stage 2 from no-stage because of provincial snowpack at roughly 50% of normal and the First Narrows Crossing supply main offline since fall 2025 for the Stanley Park Water Supply Tunnel project. Capilano and Seymour reservoirs entered May at 65 to 70% of seasonal target. Maple Ridge's base fine ($450) is one of the lower starting amounts in the Metro Vancouver cluster — most other member municipalities issue $500 fines from the first infraction. The difference reflects when each city last revised its water-use bylaw rather than any difference in regional rules. Maple Ridge incorporated as City in 2014 (formerly District of Maple Ridge since 1874).
How to keep your Maple Ridge lawn alive
10 tips for Maple Ridge homeowners.
Maple Ridge's $450 base fine is lower than most regional members but still triggers without warning under Stage 2 — assume any off-schedule sprinkler use will be cited.
Cool-season grasses (Tall Fescue, Kentucky Bluegrass, Fine Fescue) common in Maple Ridge survive 4 to 6 weeks of dormancy without lasting damage.
Mow at 75 to 90 mm and leave clippings on the lawn — taller blades shade the soil and reduce evapotranspiration in Maple Ridge's hot summer afternoons.
Hand-water mature trees in older neighbourhoods near Hammond and west Maple Ridge in the 5 to 9 AM window — Big Leaf Maples and Red Cedars are the most expensive trees to lose.
Convert ornamental beds to drip irrigation — drip is exempt from the morning sprinkler window.
If you have a private well rather than municipal water, you are exempt from the Metro Vancouver schedule but voluntary conservation is strongly encouraged.
Install a rain barrel — captured rainwater is unrestricted at all stages.
Apply 50 to 75 mm of bark or compost mulch around landscape beds to reduce summer watering needs.
Skip fertiliser through August; nitrogen forces growth dormant turf cannot support.
Monitor mapleridge.ca and metrovancouver.org weekly — Stage 3 in early June would ban automatic irrigation for trees and shrubs as well.
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