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Welcome to the Okanagan Basin Water Board
Clean water is the most precious natural asset in the Okanagan – essential to the beauty of our landscapes, our healthy economy and the well-being of our citizens. The Okanagan Basin Water Board (OBWB) was instituted in 1970 through a collaboration of the three Okanagan regional districts to provide leadership on water issues that span the entire valley – recognizing the need to work together to protect our common resources.
For many years, the OBWB directed its efforts toward the most urgent recommendations of the 1974 Okanagan Basin Study– reducing phosphorus and nitrogen inputs to the main valley lakes and controlling the invasive aquatic plant, Eurasian watermilfoil. In 2006, in response to rising public interest in water sustainability and with the support of the regional districts, the OBWB put into action a water management initiative to promote coordinated water management throughout the basin.
Click here to contact the Okanagan Basin Water Board
Grant funds flow to projects to conserve or improve Okanagan water
The Okanagan Basin Water Board has approved $300,000 in funding from its Water Conservation and Quality Improvement (WCQI) Grant Program to 19 projects in the valley.
“We had amazing applications – from schools, non-profit groups, and local governments – proposing a variety of innovative projects aimed at saving water and improving its quality across the valley,” noted James Littley, Office and Projects Manager. Applications were reviewed and ranked on a number of criteria, including basin-wide benefit, focus on action, collaboration, innovation and promotion of best practices.
Since the program began awarding funds in 2006, some $2.4 million has been provided to 159 projects throughout the Okanagan.
Find the news release and a full list of grant recipients here.
Public meeting held April 4 to address zebra mussel threat to Okanagan waters
The Okanagan Basin Water Board, its Okanagan WaterWise program and the Town of Osoyoos teamed up with invasive species experts to hold a public meeting to discuss the potential threat of invasive zebra and quagga mussels infesting valley waters and how to keep them out. The meeting was held April 4 in Osoyoos, B.C.
In preparation for the meeting, we sent out a news release. You can find it here.
Find the background report by Okanagan aquatic biologist Heather Larratt, here.
Listen to AM1150 interview from Tues. April 2, 2013 with the Water Board’s Anna Warwick Sears.
Listen to response from B.C’s Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Steve Thomson on AM1150 - April 2, 2013.
The OBWB is proud to release its new Topsoil Bylaws Toolkit!
The Topsoil Bylaws Toolkit is a companion to the OBWB's Groundwater Bylaws Toolkit and a supplement to the Green Bylaws Toolkit (www.greenbylaws.ca).
This new Toolkit was developed to give local governments practical tools that support smart topsoil policies.
For more information and to download the Toolkit, click here.
For the news release, click here.