Outside Water Use Bylaw Update

In 2003, City Council approved an Outside Water Use Bylaw to help manage periods of low water supply and high water use. The bylaw was also a necessary step for the City to meet Provincial requirements for water management outlined in Ontario’s Low Water Response Plan. The current bylaw is now 10 years old, so it’s time to make sure it still works well and meets today’s needs. It was recommended that staff review and update the Outside Water Use Bylaw and Outside Water Use Program in 2025. The update will include recommendations from the Drought Response Operational Plan (DROP) report and follow best practices used by other municipalities.

Guelph is a community that depends on groundwater to meet its drinking water needs. Typically, water demands increase during the summer months as people use more water for outdoor activities like car washing, lawn and garden watering, and filling swimming pools. As a groundwater City, we need to make sure we use our water wisely, especially as we deal with climate change. An Outside Water Use Program helps us deal with things like hotter, drier summers, less rainfall, more people using water, and limits on how much the City can pump and treat water.

The City currently monitors water conditions and uses levels to determine water conditions and to tell the public about them.

• Blue - Level 0
• Yellow – Level 1
• Red – Level 2

The levels of outside water use restrictions are determined on a number of factors, like low rainfall creating dry conditions, local river flows, how much water the community is using and how much the City is producing or pumping through the system.

How can I participate right now?

Our formal engagement for this project has concluded.

We're preparing a bylaw update to bring in front of City Council in June of 2026. Visit phase four in the timeline below to learn about ways to delegate or share your thoughts with council. you can also reach out to our project team any time. check out "Who's listening" for contact information.