Kelowna, B.C. – A lot has changed in the Okanagan since 2010 and since the last major study of the valley’s water supply and demand was completed. As one of Canada’s fastest growing regions, our population has boomed. We’ve weathered droughts and flooding, and last year we experienced both. Thanks to $392,500 through the Federal Gas Tax – B.C. Strategic Priorities Fund, the Okanagan Basin Water Board (OBWB) will complete major update of that study.
The Federal Gas Tax Fund is provided twice-a-year to provinces and territories and is intended to address three objectives: productivity and economic growth, a clean environment, and strong cities and communities. In B.C., the program is administered by the Union of BC Municipalities.
“We’re very pleased to receive this funding,” said Anna Warwick Sears, OBWB’s Executive Director, adding that the grant will allow for the study of streamflows in up to 27 of the principle tributaries that enter the Okanagan’s major valley bottom (mainstem) lakes and river systems. Streams that will be studied include Vernon and Whiteman Creeks in the North Okanagan, Mission and Mill Creeks in the Central Okanagan, Trout and Shuttleworth Creeks in the South Okanagan, and others.