Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
Canadian and U.S. officials have wrapped up the latest round in a five-year negotiation to modernize a major treaty on flood control and power generation on the Columbia River. Global Affairs Canada says negotiators from both countries in the Columbia River Treaty met in Kelowna on May 16 and 17, and the next round of talks is scheduled for Aug. 10 and 11 in Seattle.
A water quality advisory has been issued for residents on the Falcon Ridge water system off Highway 33. An email statement from the Regional District of Central Okanagan (RDCO) states that increased turbidity in the Mission Creek water source from the annual snowpack melt has resulted in water quality that might impact children, the elderly, or those with weakened immune systems.
Residents of several properties in B.C.'s North Okanagan were ordered to evacuate their homes as a nearby creek overflowed Tuesday. Officials say they're concerned about the flood risk associated with Whiteman's Creek, close to where it empties into Okanagan Lake about 70 kilometres north of Kelowna, B.C. According to the Okanagan Indian Band, which issued the evacuation order, residents on the south side of Falcon Avenue, adjacent to Whiteman's Creek, must leave their properties immediately. This includes people living at addresses 161 to 195 Falcon Avenue, as well as Nos. 54 and 55.
Well, the numbers are in, and they should terrify all of us. March was an extremely dry month throughout the Okanagan Valley, with Kelowna experiencing its sixth driest month on record. To the north, Vernon had its fourth driest month on record and Penticton had its second driest March on record, with only 1.8 mm of precipitation compared with an average of 23.6 mm. Those are some troubling numbers, especially when contrasted with a city skyline increasingly dotted with cranes, as Kelowna continues to be one of the fastest-growing cities in Canada.
Anyone who watched CTV’s W5 investigation into asbestos-cement water pipes probably went straight to the show’s website after the episode had finished to find out how many of those pipes are in Kelowna’s water system. CTV surveyed 100 Canadian municipalities to find out who has asbestos-cement pipes in their system. W5 came up with 195 kilometres of asbestos-cement pipes, or 32 per cent, in the Kelowna water system.
W5 investigated aging asbestos pipes across Canada and the potential health hazards if it ends up in your tap water. We spent several months trying to get to the bottom of two things: Where are these pipes, and is there asbestos in Canada’s water? We reached out and asked over 100 towns, districts and municipalities what types of pipes were in use, and whether there were maps of these networks.
Of course Kelowna residents take their water for granted. It's plentiful, clean and cheap. And, as such, we tend to let it flow freely from the tap with hardly a second thought. "Yes, Canadians use a lot of water per capita," said City of Kelowna utility services manager Kevin Van Vliet. "And, in the Okanagan, we're some of the biggest per capita users in Canada because of the irrigation used for agriculture in our hot, dry climate."
An environmental conservation group says goldfish, a provincially-designated invasive species, are now thriving in a popular pond in Kelowna, B.C. Lisa Scott, executive director of the Okanagan and Similkameen Invasive Species Society based in Summerland, B.C., says local residents have spotted glints of gold under the ice at Munson Pond, an ecological area, with endangered status, located south of downtown Kelowna.
A fragile and rare ecosystem in Kelowna is changing forever as the community grows around it. Robert Lake, just south of the Glenmore landfill, is unique for the salt content in its water. It provides a refuge for birds and amphibians rare in the B.C. Interior. The lake has no outlet and used to completely dry up “quite regularly,” according to Ian Walker, the vice president of the Friends of Robert Lake Society and retired biology professor at UBC Okanagan. “You'd often go past and you can see these little roll winds of white salty dust kind of blowing around,” he said. But for the past four to five years that hasn’t happened and increasing water levels are creating problems for nearby property owners, the City of Kelowna and the animals that rely on the lake.
The unusual stretch of warm weather and summer-like heat is allowing some farmers in B.C. to extend their fall harvest season as crops continue to grow and yield quality produce, while others, especially in water-restricted areas, are struggling with the lack of rain. Sean Smukler, the chair of agriculture and environment at the University of British Columbia, says farmers experienced a cold and wet start to spring that delayed the growth of their crops by about three weeks, but some have been able to make up for lost time in the latter half of the season. "The crops that are well established and just need a little bit of water in this late season are probably able to take advantage of the sunny warm weather," Smukler told CBC News.
Do you think the City of Kelowna should attempt to take over the independent water systems that serve Rutland and Glenmore, as it did with the Southeast Kelowna system, with a view to providing the same quality water throughout the city? Kelowna currently has enough challenges updating its current infrastructure and taking over something that is currently running may not be the answer in today’s world of traffic concerns, municipal transportation challenges and other facility upgrades on the checklist of things we need to focus on.
In the Okanagan, water conservation is a year-round effort. But with warmer summer temperatures now upon us, it’s time to start prioritizing our outdoor water smarts. Everyone has a part to play in conserving water and protecting our changing valley for future generations. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to step up and become a water hero this summer: Schedule a free irrigation assessment to ensure your system is working efficiently, collect rainwater in barrels and use it for irrigation, water between midnight and 6 a.m., treat your yard well: let your grass grow long, sharpen your mower blade and over-seed your lawn. Learn more about proper lawn maintenance at Kelowna.ca/watersmart
UBC experts are available to comment on flooding and extreme weather, in light of a state of emergency in Kelowna and other parts of western Canada. Climate science and natural disasters Dr. Susan Day Professor, Department of Forest Resources Management Email: susan.day@ubc.ca Phone: 604-822-6652 Interview Language(s): English: Urban forests, Urban soils, stormwater, water relations, plant response to climate stress to climate stress
Kelowna council has given the nod to replace a transformer at the Trade Waste Treatment Facility at Ethel Street and Weddell Place. A staff report indicates it has exceeded its life span and is showing signs of imminent failure. It provides wastewater and pre-treatment for the fruit and wine effluent from SunRype and Andrew Peller Ltd. The facility is owned and operated on behalf of the two companies. Council ok’d that the 2022 Financial Plan be amended to include $400,000 for the replacement. With $100,000 coming from the Wastewater Utility and $300,000 from SunRype and Andrew Peller Ltd.
Youthful Kelowna creators of a backpack-sized water filtration system won top prize Tuesday in a competition that aims to find engineering solutions to pressing water-related problems. Engineering students from UBC Okanagan won $20,000 to bring their invention, which is designed to produce clean water in adverse conditions for up to 128 weeks, to the commercial market. The prize was awarded by organizers of the AquaHacking 2021- Western Canadian Challenge, hosted by the Okanagan Basin Water Board. Twenty-one teams with members from as far away as Japan, Qatar, and Russia competed in the challenge, which was conducted online.
Solution: Focusing on improving water quality in Indigenous communities, the team developed a device to help prevent water contamination in water cisterns using a hydraulic coupling on the water delivery hose and the cistern lid. Team members: Mikhail Ignatyev and Emilia Dyck, both from Kelowna, Sydney Strocen of Winnipeg, and Sam Keeble from Vancouver. These teams will now compete for $50,000 in seed funding and placement in a start-up incubator to further refine their solution and bring it to market, with the finals being held in September.
The vast majority of Kelowna City Council candidates support the further integration of water suppliers. The city recently amalgamated with the South East Kelowna Irrigation District but still only provides water to 50 per cent of residents. Irrigation districts in Glenmore-Ellison, Black Mountain and Rutland serve most of the rest of Kelowna (there are 26 small systems supplying about 1,300 residents). The city wants to bring all water under its umbrella and integrate all the systems.
A ground-breaking ceremony was held in Kelowna today for a multi-million dollar project that will improve water quality in the city’s southeast district. The multi-year project involves separating agricultural and domestic systems in southeast Kelowna and providing a sustainable water supply for agriculture in South Mission. The federal government is providing $26.45 million while the provincial government is providing $17.457 million for the project through the Clean Water and Wastewater Fund. The City of Kelowna says its costs will be $19.1 million.
