Municipal leaders from around the Okanagan gathered Wednesday to urge residents to change their water use habits and conserve water as the region — known as one of the driest in Canada — once again appears headed for drought conditions this year.
Politicians from nine municipalities — from Osoyoos to Vernon and everywhere in between — pledged to take a Make Water Work Challenge and change their own water use habits heading into another Okanagan summer.
“I think MakeWaterWork.ca is a great resource for people who want to better understand it. There is great pictures and information, you can see the tips and tricks and various city’s policies on water conservation,” said Penticton Mayor Andrew Jakubeit. “I encourage everyone who is thinking of water management and re-doing your lawns to use that resource. It will give you a push to do something different in your backyard and make a difference because collectively we can all make a difference.”
Local politicians from every municipality stood in front of what's known as the UnH2O Xeriscape Demonstration Gardens at the H2O Centre in Kelowna to speak about the benefits of using more xeriscape plants, including 54 plants in the Make Water Work Plant Collection, plants that need less water and are perfect for the dry Okanagan climate.
“Our behaviours today are what our children are going to learn. Hopefully down the road, being water wise will be the norm for future generations,” said Cindy Fortin, mayor of Peachland.
The Okanagan is coming off a year where the provincial government enacted a level 4 drought and this year's warm spring and early fire season are pointing towards another year of extremely dry conditions in the area. According to the B.C. River Forecast Centre the extremely warm periods in April have led to significant and rapid melt of the snowpack, almost one month ahead of schedule. The concern of another drought is there.
“Potentially,” said Greg Bethel of the River Forecast Centre. “The supply of water later in the season is the main concern because it is going to put pressure on the flows into June, July and August.”
The forecast centre has been monitoring the snowpack since 1980 and Bethel said this year’s melt is unprecedented.
The message of water conservation is being hammered down by local politicians as well as the Okanagan Basin Water Board (OBWB) and municipalities, all of which are enacting some sort of water restrictions or conservation plans. In Penticton there are water restrictions from May 1 to Aug. 31. This includes even-numbered street addresses irrigating on even numbered days of the month and vice versa for odd numbered street addresses.
Homes, in mobile home parks, to water according to unit number. Manual sprinklers can water from 6 to 8 a.m. and 7 to 10 p.m. while automatic irrigation can run 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. A full list of regulations by city or regional district area can be found on makewaterwork.ca.
"Hopefully the message is getting out there," said Lake Country Coun. Rob Geier. "Young people are the ones you can mould in elementary and high school. They are the ones who will have the helm and they won't even look to (green) lawns, they will look to xeriscaping. (Municipalities) need to take a lead role. We can't go planting and having sprinklers going all the time and expect residents to reduce water as well."
Several municipalities have moved to water metering systems in the past years while others have already enacted water restrictions on residents this year. But with bylaw enforcement mostly done only if and when there is a complaint lodged, it's up to individuals to change water patterns and think of the future when it comes to the amount of water that will be available as the years move on.
‘If we don’t get the rains in May and June that we want and we need, not only will we see our reservoirs and lakes drawn down, but if you get two or three years of that, you’re in trouble,” said West Kelowna Mayor and OBWB chair Doug Findlater. “I dread summer now because of the wildfire season. We always seem to have some area being evacuated. It feels like summer now, but we need to be concerned about this.”
The Make Water Work challenge lays out several ways residents can conserve water. Go to makewaterwork.ca to take the challenge and to find plenty of information on conserving water as well as on the make water work plant collection.
“This year the collection has been expanded to include 54 plants, including beautiful grasses, perennials, shrubs and trees, perfect for the dry Okanagan climate,” said Corinne Jackson, OBWB communications director. “As well, two new garden centres have joined the program, bringing the total to nine, ensuring nearly all Okanagan residents can walk into a garden centre in their community and find the Make Water Work collection.”
Residents who take the challenge will be entered to win several prizes including a grand prize of a water wise yard upgrade with $6,000.
Participating garden centres offering plants in the Make Water Work Collection in the South Okanagan include GardenWorks Penticton, Grasslands Nursery in Summerland, Sagebrush Nursery in Oliver and Sandhu Greenhouses in Osoyoos.
-With files from Kristi Patton