West Vancouver getting heat, accused of ignoring ban-breakers watering their grass

A lot of West Vancouver yards are hidden behind tall hedges or walls, but peeking out through many of those barriers are glimpses of lush lawns.

Or maybe a $200 fine is merely a drop in the bucket, so to speak, for someone living in the British Properties or any other of West Vancouver’s tony neighbourhoods — the district reliably appears at the top of almost every list of Canada’s wealthiest municipalities, with average household net worth north of $4.5 million.

“Two-hundred dollars? That’s nothing, especially for rich people,” said Hans Schreier, professor emeritus of watershed management at UBC. “We’ve had a very dry summer, next summer will likely be worse. I don’t think these people realize how desperate the situation is.”

Schreier doesn’t limit his criticism to West Vancouver. All of Metro should be metered, he said, and watering bans should start in July and not end until rains come in late September or October.