Photo: Colin Dacre
Kayaking on Lake Okanagan.
Two Kelowna projects are among 15 funded this year by the Okanagan Basin Water Council to help tackle climate change and its impact on clean water in the region.
This year, OBWB approved funding of $ 350,000 through its Water Conservation and Quality Improvement Grant Program.
“By protecting the waters we have and finding better ways to do so, our valley will be in a much better position to withstand everything we come across – floods, droughts and forest fires,” said James Little. Head of Operations and Grants at OBWB.
Currently, the city of Kelowna stores urban snow in four places with different conditions. An upcoming project proposed by the city of Kelowna, called “Snow Risk Risk Assessment”, will take samples from the four sites for pollutants such as metals, pollutants derived from tires and more. These potential contaminants can damage surface water, groundwater and soil.
Kelowna also received more funding to continue a study to evaluate microplastics in Lake Okanagan.
Last year, the first phase of this project took samples of surface water in Kelowna and at the Kelowna Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), where microplastics were found. The second phase will expand sampling from Lake Okanagan to include sampling of subsurface waters and sediments in Kelowna, Vernon, Peachland, Somerland and the Penticton. Sampling will continue at Kelowna’s WWTP.
In order to collect sufficient data to inform strategies for reducing microplastics in the environment.
Since the start of the program in 2006, OBWB has provided a total of 315 grants to non-profit organizations in Okanagan, the first nations, local authorities and irrigation areas worth more than $ 5,470,000.
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