If you see unwatered lawns popping up in Port Alberni soon, don’t think of them as brown—think of them as golden. That’s the message that Alberni Valley Transition Town Society member Sarah Thomas is hoping to send through a golden lawns campaign. “It will come back,” said Thomas of brown grass. “The grass won’t die if you don’t water it.”
The city entered stage one of water restrictions on June 8 but Thomas doesn’t think that’s enough. Stage one restricts lawn watering to even or odd days corresponding with a house’s address for four hours in the morning and four in the evening. City parks, school and sports fields are exempt however—and that’s something Thomas wants to change. “We’re in a serious situation and I don’t think they realize just how serious,” she said, adding that it’s about setting the example as much as conserving water.
