Okanagan Basin Water Board handed out $350k in grant funding for local water projects – Kelowna News

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The Okanagan Basin Water Board has handed out $350,000 in grant funding.

The Okanagan Basin Water Board recently handed out $350,000 in grant funding to 15 projects across the valley.

This is the 19th year the organization has issued its Water Conservation and Quality Improvement Grant funding, supporting regional districts, local governments, First Nations, and non-profits “as they tackle critical water conservation and quality challenges head-on.”

The funding will help projects valued at a total of more than $6.4 million.

“The quality of proposals this year was outstanding. It was great to see so many proposals that directly relate to this year’s theme of Source Water Protection, as well as restoration and groundwater protection projects that fit within the theme,” said Carolina Restrepo, OBWB’s Office and Grants Manager.

“We eagerly anticipate the results of these projects as we approach the WCQI’s 20th anniversary.”

In Kelowna, the Mission Creek Restoration Initiative was given $25,000 to support the program’s restoration and monitoring work, focusing on floodplain expansion to improve habitat, manage floodwaters, and enhance water quality.

The Okanagan Nation Alliance received $30,000 to assess flow paths and water sources of summer low flows in McDougall Creek following the devastating 2023 fire.

And the the City of West Kelowna was given $10,000 for the Rose Valley Reservoir manganese treatment.

Funded projects spanned across the Okanagan, from as far south as Oliver, north to Spallumcheen:

• Mission Creek Restoration Initiative; MCRI Restoration and Effectiveness Monitoring – $25,000
• District of Summerland; Source water investigation at the Trout Creek Perpetual Slide – $30,000
• Okanangan Nation Alliance; Assessing Flow Paths, and Water Sources of Summer Low Flows in McDougall Creek Following 2023 Wildfire – $30,000
• Penticton Indian Band; nluxwluxw?cwix (lower Trout Creek) Restoration – $14,932
• B.C. Wildlife Federation; Water, Water, Everywhere: Twin Lakes Wetland Restoration – $30,000
• Okanagan Indian Band; Equesis Creek – groundwater connectivity assessment for source water protection – $30,000
• RDNO; Creek Restoration Trial Sncematqtn Agricultural Park (Hog’s Gulch) – $30,000
• Chute Creek Stewardship Society; Lower Chute Creek Restoration and Reconstruction – $30,000
• RDNO; Land Use & Water Quality Impact Assessment of the Coldstream Creek Watershed (Greater Vernon Water (GVW) Source Water Protection) – $25,000
• Township of Spallumcheen; Source Water Protection and Water Quality Sampling in Deep Creek – $25,067
• Town of Oliver; Town of Oliver’s Pilot of the Use of a Source Protection Response Plan Living Table and Other Related Templates – $25,000
• District of Coldstream; Lavington Wetland Risk Mitigation Plan – $25,000
• City of Vernon; Polson Park Hydrogeology and Data Analysis Study – $10,000
• City of West Kelowna; Rose Valley Reservoir Source Water Manganese Treatment – $10,000
• District of Lake Country; Kalamalka Wood Lake Basin Technical Working Group – $10,000