Okanagan Basin Water Board

06/05/2026

What happened at the June Water Board Meeting:

💧A Little Rain, But Not Enough: Okanagan in Drought
🏞️Presentation Highlights Vital Connection Between Groundwater and Stream Health
🏆 (We’ve Got a Winner (or two) — But You’ll Have to Wait for the Big Reveal
✂️Milfoil Harvesting Planned for Duck Lake Thanks to New Amphibious Equipment

Read the June Board Report here: https://conta.cc/4g3KDUN

06/03/2026

Love the outdoors? This one's for you.

The Okanagan Basin Water Board is hiring a full-time Milfoil Control Equipment Operator to help keep Okanagan lakes healthy and invasive milfoil free.

Competitive pay, great benefits, and an office view you can't beat.

Click here to learn more and apply: https://lnkd.in/egWjt_2e

05/29/2026

Calling all Indigenous youth artists!

Do you have a vision for what siwłk water means to you — what it looks like when it flows freely, and what's lost when it doesn't?

The Environmental Flows 2026: siwłk Water for All Conference is looking for YOU to design the official conference logo — and the prize package is enticing:
💰 $500 cash prize
🎨 Two coaching sessions with celebrated Syilx Artist Evelyn Alec
🖼️ 100% of profits from prints sold at the conference

The contest is open to Indigenous youth ages 14–30 living in the Okanagan and broader Syilx Territory. Your design will be the face of an international water conference coming to Kelowna this October, co-hosted by OBWB, Okanagan Nation Alliance and Canadian Water Resources Association.

🔗 Learn more and enter here: https://conta.cc/3RAI4Q5

⏳ Don't wait, deadline is July 9!
Please spread the word to the artists in your life!

05/28/2026

Let's talk rain and drought, over a coffee. ☕💧

If Penticton normally gets a Grande-sized coffee worth of rain by late May — this year it's gotten barely a Demi and an Espresso shot combined. Just 21% of expected precipitation.

May rain helped a little. But we're still missing a lot — and summer hasn't even started.

The Province set the Okanagan at Drought Level 5 today, the highest level, and we’ve rounded up conditions in our second Drought Bulletin of 2026.

👉Check it out here: https://conta.cc/4dGXXvu

Every drop matters. Check your local watering restrictions.

^𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒂 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑬𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒅𝒂. 1991–2020 𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆.

Regional District of North Okanagan
Regional District of Central Okanagan
Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen

05/27/2026

✨Big news from the team! We’re thrilled to share that James Littley has been named a 2026 Together in Action award winner by the Invasive Species Council of BC.

James took home the Leadership Excellence Award for his tireless work protecting our watersheds from invasive mussels. We’ve been lucky to have him leading that charge since 2012! 💧

We’re also celebrating Gerald Michel, Elder of the Xwísten community, who received the Indigenous Leadership Award for his 40+ years of land stewardship. 🌿

Congratulations to both James and Gerald — their work is a reminder of what's possible when people show up, year after year, for the places and communities they care about.

👇Check out the full story below or here: https://bcinvasives.ca/news/2026tiaawards/

The 2026 Together in Action Awards recognize two leaders helping protect communities, waterways, and landscapes across B.C. through invasive species prevention and management efforts.

This year’s recipients are Gerald Michel, an Elder from the Xwísten community, and James Littley of the

Through stewardship, partnerships, education, and preparedness efforts, both recipients have helped strengthen invasive species prevention and management while supporting the places and communities people care deeply about.

Read more about their stories, accomplishments, and reflections on the work shaping invasive species management across B.C.

https://bcinvasives.ca/news/2026tiaawards/

05/26/2026

Resilience starts in your yard!

By choosing to be Water Smart and FireSmart™, you can help:
💧 Conserve water
🔥 Reduce wildfire risk
🏡 Protect what matters most

Start small. Make a big impact.

Check out this list of 100 plants that look gorgeous, drink less, and won't tempt the neighbourhood deer👉 www.MakeWaterWork.ca/plants

Regional District of Central Okanagan
Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen
Regional District of North Okanagan
Okanagan Xeriscape Association
FireSmart BC

05/23/2026

Make water work for every generation 💧

Less mowing. Less watering. Less stress.

A xeriscape yard is built for the Okanagan — using native, drought-tolerant plants that thrive with less water 🌿
Whether you’re after easy weekends or just over the whole lawn thing… it all adds up to one thing: smarter water use.

Because every drop matters here.

👉 Start your yard transformation: MakeWaterWork.ca or the link in our bio!

05/21/2026

Your yard has never had a more important job.🌱

This morning at the Town of Osoyoos, the Okanagan Basin Water Board and FireSmart BC officially launched the 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤, 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭™ campaign, and the numbers make the urgency crystal clear: snowpack is sitting at just 31% of normal, and drought has already been declared across the basin.

But here's the thing: you've got the power to fight back — right in your own backyard.
🛡️ 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬. Your home. Your family. Your valley. 💧 𝐁𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭. Because every drop counts more than ever. 🌿 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭™. Beautiful yards that save water and provide fire resistance right in your yard.

Three simple ideas. One massive impact.

Check out all the details here: https://conta.cc/4uU7UwG
This is our home. Let's protect it. 💙

Okanagan Xeriscape Association
Regional District of North Okanagan
Regional District of Central Okanagan
Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen