Kelowna, B.C. – With the forecast for another hot, dry Okanagan summer, students from École Glenmore Elementary and mayors from throughout the valley joined forces today to commit to being WaterWise, inviting residents to join them. The gathering comes as the Okanagan Basin Water Board’s Okanagan WaterWise program, and Okanagan municipalities and water utilities kick off their annual residential outdoor water conservation campaign “Make Water Work.” It was also a celebration of the school’s new “Seeds of Learning” garden.
“This is the perfect spot for such a celebration as we prepare for summer and encourage residents to do their part to protect the waters of the Okanagan. We’ve got children and adults sharing their hopes and demonstrating action to help ensure a secure water future,” said Water Board Communications Director Corinne Jackson, who manages the Okanagan WaterWise program and its Make Water Work campaign.
Make Water Work is a valley-wide initiative by local governments and water utilities, encouraging conservation in Canada’s most water-stressed region. Now in its 9th year, the program provides tips and tools to help residents conserve outdoors – tackling the 2nd highest use of all Okanagan water. In recent years, with flooding, the program has also encouraged residents to prepare their yards to slow, spread and sink water on site as a conservation method, and to reduce stormwater runoff and protect water quality. As part of the campaign, residents are encouraged to pledge to conserve at www.MakeWaterWork.ca and invite local family and friends to do the same with the chance to win WaterWise yard prizes thanks to partners like ProSource Irrigation and several garden centres.