Water Quality

Water shapes lands, transports materials and cleanses the environment. It has incredible power through both intense storm events and the slow but steady erosion that continually defines lakes, rivers and aquifers. Because of this power, water also has an enormous ability to transfer contamination from a source to a much larger area. Source water protection, which encompasses land use, ecosystem protection, and consideration of the entire hydrological cycle, is fundamental to reducing or preventing contaminants from entering lakes, rivers, and aquifers.


Ecosystem processes in healthy watersheds are the most natural, effective, and cost-efficient means to keeping contaminants out of source water. Channelization of the Okanagan River in the 1950s, rapid urban development, road building, forestry, agricultural activities, livestock grazing, off-road recreation, wildlife, and natural events like storms and fires have resulted in the loss and fragmentation of over 85 percent of wetlands and riparian areas in the Basin. The loss of these natural purification systems has increased the risk of contamination for drinking water supplies and has harmed aquatic ecosystems. Protection and restoration of ecosystems is critical to maintaining clean water.