Water Conservation and Stewardship Rebate and Incentive Program

In 2020, the Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD) established a regional Drinking Water and Watershed Protection (DWWP) strategy. The DWWP follows the CVRD’s Corporate Strategic Plan and the Official Community Plan (OCP), with the overarching goal of ensuring healthy watersheds and sustainable water resources in the region, which are essential to the wellbeing of our communities and health of our ecosystems.

2026 Water Conservation and Stewardship Rebate Program

To meet the DWWP’s overarching goal, the CVRD is looking to design a rebate and incentive program focused on water conservation and sustainable water use practices involving:

Rain barrels

• Rain barrels collect water from your home's downspout providing a free source of water for your yard. Rain barrels are a great way to help to keep your plants healthy while reducing your water use around your home. Rain barrels also help to reduce the amount of runoff from your property into nearby creeks, streams and rivers which helps protect against excess sediments and contaminants entering our waterways.

Cisterns

• Rainwater cisterns are a larger version of a rain barrel and have the capacity to store more rainwater. Cisterns are a great tool to conserve water while providing a more sustainable and independent water source for irrigation. Not only do cisterns have a greater ability to reduce your water consumption and manage runoff from your property, they can ensure water availability during periods of drought.

Soil improvements

• Healthy soils act like a sponge, holding water and nutrients where plant roots can get to them. This promotes plant growth and can reduce your landscape's water demand up to 50%. Healthy soils also help reduce stormwater runoff by increasing your landscape's ability to retain water from heavier rain and storm events. Adding organic material to your soil helps prevent water loss from evaporation and reduces weed and invasive plant growth. Together, healthy soils and organic mulch boost the water retaining capability of your yard and contribute to maintaining a healthy garden using less water.

Smart irrigation upgrades

• Upgrading your irrigation system improves efficiency, helps reduce your landscape's water consumption, and delivers water to where you need it most. Upgrading your water system will also save you money on your water bill, while working towards preserving water resources in our community.

The program is meant to encourage and financially assist residents to adopt water conservation technologies and watershed stewardship practices to ensure long-term, sustainable water resources for the community and environmental needs.

As part of the initial stages in designing the program, we are asking for feedback from the community in the survey below. This survey is an opportunity for the public to provide input and help inform the design and direction of the rebate and incentive program. Your input and feedback are important in shaping the use and protection of regional water resources and essential to the success of the DWWP.

How to Share Your Thoughts

• Submit your comments on the Water Conservation and Stewardship Rebate Program. Your participation completely voluntary. No personal information will be collected. To ensure your comments remain anonymous, do not include personal information, such as your name, email address, phone number, mailing address, etc., in your comment.
• Privacy - Your responses will be collected and analyzed for this engagement process only and will not be used for any other purpose. Your responses will remain anonymous. This collection is authorized under section 26(e) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (BC). If you have any questions about this data collection, contact legistlativeservices@cvrd.bc.ca or by phone at 250.746.2503.