The Water Conservation and Quality Improvement (WCQI) grant program provides funds to local governments, irrigation districts, and non-profit organizations for projects that conserve and protect water, based on the recognition that we are all part of “One Valley, One Water.”
NEW THIS YEAR: Submit your 2024 application online
Refer to Application Information & Forms for details.
In addition to delivering successful projects put forward by local government and other water purveyors, the WCQI grant program builds a collaborative approach to addressing water management issues and promotes more uniform standards and best practices throughout the valley.
Up to $350,000 per year is made available by the Okanagan Basin Water Board for the program. Individual grants are $3,000 minimum and $30,000 maximum. Every year the program has been oversubscribed and competitive.
Since the program began awarding funds in 2006, the OBWB has awarded $5.8 million to 331 projects throughout the Okanagan. The groups behind these efforts, in turn, delivered projects worth more than $30 million to our valley – projects that have helped conserve and protect water in Canada’s most water-stressed region.
Projects include stream restoration work for fish, flood mitigation, and improved ecosystems, xeriscape demonstration gardens, water metering, foreshore inventory mapping, drinking water protection efforts like cattle-fencing, and much more.
Priority is given to projects that have a measurable outcome and demonstrate how goals will be met, have matching funding in place or applied for, or demonstrate a collaborative approach with other jurisdictions.
Projects that address issues of basin-wide significance and/or can be used as a model for other organizations are also given priority.
NEW THIS YEAR: Submit your 2024 application online
Refer to Application Information & Forms for details.