Who has never seen a neighbor, come spring, washing his asphalt with a garden hose? The City of Rimouski is about to ban this practice. The new regulation, however, arouses discontent since some citizens see it as a threat to their individual freedoms.
For the sake of “water saving” and to “act against climate change”, the municipal council of the city of Bas-Saint-Laurent intends to prohibit the cleaning of private entrances with drinking water, at all times.
Offenders face fines of $175.
The watering of private parking lots is currently authorized once a year, from April 20 to May 20, when the availability of water is greater with the melting of the snow in the spring.
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Disgruntled citizens
The news reported by the Evening Newspaper ten days ago sparked strong reactions on social networks.
The amendment to the bylaw does not suit all citizens, starting with Jean Claude Roy, who launched an online petition to challenge it. She accumulated just over 50 signatures Monday noon.
The project is “abusive and infantilizing”, agree the signatories, who say they are satisfied with the current regulations. Spring cleaning of parking lots is, according to them, a domestic chore “recognized” and “under the private sphere”, in the same way as laundry or snow removal.
Some would have liked to be consulted by the municipal council.
Others see the new regulations as a threat to “individual freedoms” and “personal autonomy.”
“Don’t bully[z] not our rights. Water is available. Why not use it intelligently. Water is a renewable resource why ban its use. The use once a year is far from being an abusive use”, argues one of the signatories.
“The city of Rimouski, which I have recently baptized RIMOSKOV, is coming with too many bans and restrictions,” points out a disgruntled citizen.
Arrive “in 2023”
Municipalities in the province are required to adopt regulations similar to those currently in effect in Rimouski, under the Quebec Drinking Water Savings Strategy developed in April 2019 by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
In Montreal and Quebec, for example, washing driveways is only permitted from 1er April to May 15 each year. But several cities, including Oka, Drummondville and Trois-Rivières, already prohibit this practice, except during construction work that justifies it.
The City of Rimouski intends to follow in their footsteps.
“We are in 2023 and I think that nobody needs to be convinced of the need to act against climate change”, underlined in an interview with the Evening Newspaper the municipal councilor instigator of the motion, Jocelyn Pelletier.
The amendment to the regulations must be put to the vote on February 27.
The councilor also notes that the Bas-Saint-Laurent region has suffered severe droughts in recent years. Many notices prohibiting watering have been issued due to the excessive consumption of drinking water.
Last June, the mayor of Rimouski, Guy Caron, recalled that the municipality had sometimes reached peaks in water consumption during the summer, similar to that of a city of more than 100,000 inhabitants. However, Rimouski only has 48,664 people.