1. There is LESS water available per person in the Okanagan than anywhere else in Canada. (Source: Statistics Canada, Human Activity and the Environment: Annual Statistics 2003. Catalogue no. 16-201-XIE, p. 8.)
2. The Okanagan has one of the highest rates of water use per person in Canada.
3. The 2nd largest use of water in the Okanagan is used on our household lawns & gardens.

Click to enlarge.

Our lakes don’t equal an endless supply of water…

Our valley lakes can be as beautiful as they are deceiving. This has become known as “They Myth of Abundance.” Although it may seem like our water supply is vast, Okanagan Lake—the primary source of our water—only fills 1.5 metres in an average year. This happens thanks to melting snow and precipitation, mostly in the spring.

To protect the valley from disastrous flooding, Okanagan Lake is managed to not hold over that 1.5 metres of spring inflow. In a dry year, the lake may not even refill that full 1.5 metres.

Photo: Evaporation research bouy on Okanagan Lake, July 2011. Photo courtesy of Environment Canada.

Water “loss” in an already water-stressed region

Water managers also consider evaporation when maintaining lake levels. Between 725 and 835 mm of water evaporates from Okanagan Lake each year.

Unfortunately, when we experience dry years, evaporation and our demand for water still exist.

During 2015, wildfires broke out around our parched valley. Water restrictions tightened. There was legitimate concern that low water supplies would hurt farmers and their output. Fish returning to spawn also faced lower water levels. The drought stressed our environment and economy. And, this has been repeated in subsequent years.

Today, we have the chance to make things better now and into the future.

How we spend our water budget

We share Okanagan Lake between fish, wildlife, and many human users including residential, agricultural, commercial and industrial businesses. Demands on our water are growing. Our population is increasing. And so are our agricultural needs because of climate change and the impact this is having on growing conditions.

Each year, provincial water managers draw down Okanagan Lake in the winter to make room for spring freshet (thaw). They work to reduce flood risk and ensure enough room for the expected 1.5 metres that will carry us through until the fall when people turn off the irrigation and the fish have returned to spawn. This draw down considers how much water is in our snowpack and how much spring rain will fill the lake.

As people in the Okanagan irrigate in the spring, we withdraw from the water stored in the lake. As the summer gets hotter, irrigation increases, and so does stress on our water supply. This continues into fall.