City launches contest to celebrate 'golden lawns' amid Metro Vancouver watering ban
This photo posted online by the City of Port Coquitlam shows a "golden lawn" amid a drought.
With residential watering completely banned across Metro Vancouver due to drought, one municipality has launched a contest to celebrate the city's most parched lawns.
Stage 2 water restrictions came into effect Friday, placing a complete prohibition on spraying or sprinkling the grass for the first time in the region since 2015.
On Tuesday, Port Coquitlam launched its Golden Streets and Lawns contest, encouraging residents to submit photos of their homes or their blocks in order to encourage and incentivize compliance with the restrictions.
"With water restrictions in effect, gold is the new green. We want to celebrate the most golden street and lawns in all of PoCo," the contest page says, asking people to upload their photos to an online portal or post them to social media and tag the city in order to win a prize. The contest details also specify that the lawn should be "maintained but not watered."
The contest runs through Sept. 15. The winning block will be given a party with "food, games and prizes," according to the website. Three winning individuals will get a $100 gift card to a local business of their choice.
While complying with the restrictions will earn some people prizes, defying them can result in a fine of $150 in Port Coquitlam. Although the restrictions are region-wide, the penalty varies by city. In Vancouver a $500 fine is possible, in Surrey it's $300 and in Burnaby it's $250.
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