Okanagan Drought Planning and Response A presentation by Kellie Garcia Osoyoos Lake Water Science Forum October 9, 2015

Presentation Outline Local response to 2015 drought Drought timeline & impacts Action taken Challenges faced Okanagan drought project Status of drought planning Draft recommendations Take home messages

2015 Drought Overview of local response

Drought timeline

Drought impacts Devastation to salmon population—as well as sturgeon and chinook in other areas Extensive wildfires Several Okanagan streams put on the watch list for regulation, including Duteau and Trepanier creeks Our reservoirs fared okay: concern about what will happen with precipitation this winter, and our reservoir status going into spring of 2016

Local response – OBWB Frequent updates Press releases and other outreach through Make Water Work campaign Commissioned three studies: Status reports from local purveyors Analysis of volume of water conserved through 30% reduction in use Methods for lake evaporation estimation Webinar and workshop

Local response – water utilities Several moved to 2 days/week but many stayed at odd/even (3 days) Several issued press releases supporting the province and asking community to reduce use Other communication tools were also used (e.g. signs, website updates) Some took action in other ways (e.g. SEKID) Many attended OBWB webinar and workshop

Challenges faced Difficult to gather and distribute timely info about status & vulnerability of water supplies Confusion about how local suppliers should respond to provincial drought declarations Challenging to show cumulative benefits of upstream conservation (e.g. pulse flows)

Okanagan Drought Project Purpose: evaluate preparedness and strengthen drought resiliency in the Okanagan

What contributes to resiliency? Good understanding of water supply and demand (current and future) Water uses and withdrawals, water quality, instream flow requirements, demand under various scenarios, management alternatives, potential conflicts and impacts Monitoring, record-keeping, and reporting Water demand, reservoir levels, climate conditions, water quality

What contributes to resiliency? Continued and heightened conservation Bylaws, education, and other conservation measures, plans, coordinated approaches Formal communications strategies Identify communication channels to key stakeholders and public, methods & timing, responsibilities Consistent and deliberate cooperation Build relationships and make friends before the drought

Are we ready? Looked at 18 major Okanagan purveyors Five have formal drought plans All but one have watering restriction bylaws Most have conservation info on website, a few have formal programs/plans Not sure about communication plans Not much coordination between utilities No valley-wide response strategy in place

We have a good framework in place

Barriers to drought planning Myth of abundance Mishmash of water providers Variation between drainages & sources Variation in bylaws & policies Difficult to show hydrological connectivity Joe Heller, Green Bay Press-Gazette

The hydro-illogical cycle

Draft Recommendations Under review by the focus group

Information Identify gaps and gather info to support drought planning Implement robust monitoring, record- keeping, and reporting Universal water metering

Planning Prepare drought plans Can be based on provincial template Might already have the info - just need to update and compile Plan for “new normal” (i.e. multi- year drought)

Conservation Make water conservation a year-round priority in all jurisdictions

Conservation Continue to communicate the “One Valley One Water” message How can we make information about hydrological connectivity more accessible? We need a better argument than “doing the right thing”

Coordination Prepare a valley-wide drought response plan Link to provincial plan Focus on communication & coordination Include TOR for Okanagan Valley Drought Response Team Connect to provincial response teams

Coordination Prepare (or update) drought agreements for priority sub-basins Include all water licensees/stakeholders Link to valley-wide drought plan/team

Coordination Adopt consistent definitions of stages and common decision-making tools for moving between them e.g. Armstrong Stage 2 is hand watering only, whereas GVWU (and most others) it is sprinkling 2 days per week Different definitions of “normal” stage

Communication Three levels to consider: Water suppliers to water users Between water suppliers Between province and water suppliers

Communication Develop consistent and collaborative drought communication tools

Communication Graphics to show actual operating range of Okanagan Lake and potential impacts of drought? Need to link to the individual Example: Cowichan Lake level and role of the weir

Communication Expand Okanagan WaterWise to include drought (and flood?) outreach campaign

Take home messages Drought response this year was quite reactive, but a good learning experience Need to get better prepared before next year Framework is in place but much more work to be done OBWB can take a leadership role in communication and coordination, but utilities must get ready at the local level

The water we save today may be the water we need in the future. THANK-YOU! My contact info: