{"id":148142,"date":"2025-09-16T13:26:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T13:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/148142\/"},"modified":"2025-09-16T13:26:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T13:26:11","slug":"drought-level-in-the-okanagan-increases-under-new-provincial-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/148142\/","title":{"rendered":"Drought level in the Okanagan increases under new provincial system"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summer may be coming to an end in the Okanagan<\/a>, but the drought that came with it is still going strong \u2014 and according to local experts, it\u2019s not going away anytime soon.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re in Drought Level 3 because we\u2019re experiencing warm waters and lower-than-normal stream flows,\u201d said Sandra Shira, a water scientist for the Okanagan Basin Water Board (OBWB).<\/p>\n

And this year\u2019s conditions are far from unusual.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Okanagan is naturally a dry area \u2014 it\u2019s prone to high temperatures and low precipitation,\u201d she said. \u201cBut right now, we\u2019re in a state of prolonged drought. We\u2019ve been in drought for a few years now.\u201d<\/p>\n

British Columbia\u2019s drought rating system includes five levels, with Level 5 being the most severe. But critics say the system doesn\u2019t fully reflect the reality on the ground \u2014 especially in Indigenous territories like the Syilx Okanagan Nation.<\/p>\n

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The Okanagan Nation Alliance (ONA) recently sent a formal letter to the Ministry of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship, raising concerns after the Syilx Okanagan territory was classified at Level 0 \u2014 the lowest drought level \u2014 despite ongoing dry conditions.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe position of ONA is that drought and water management are explicitly connected, and that the separation of drought levels and management actions by the Province is disingenuous,\u201d the letter stated.<\/p>\n

Schira says the OBWB has publicly supported the ONA\u2019s position and is preparing a formal response of its own.<\/p>\n

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\u201cConditions vary across the valley,\u201d she said. \u201cThe ONA\u2019s letter critiques the new drought level process the province implemented this year \u2014 and we\u2019re actively working on a response.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In response, the province says it met with the ONA last week to discuss shared concerns over watershed protection and long-term drought planning.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe agreed to closer communication on how watershed management and drought are being experienced on the ground as decisions are made by the Province,\u201d the Ministry said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Even with cooler temperatures on the way, drought-level water restrictions remain in place across much of the Okanagan \u2014 and residents are urged to stay mindful of their water use.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s many benefits to conserving,\u201d Schira said. \u201cIt helps the landscape \u2014 especially in a dry region like the Okanagan \u2014 and it helps your pocketbook. You don\u2019t want to be spending on water you don\u2019t need.\u201d<\/p>\n

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As the drought deepens, the risks grow \u2014 for farmers, fish habitats, and future water supplies.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Summer may be coming to an end in the Okanagan, but the drought that came with it is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":148143,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,79004,66,79005],"class_list":["post-148142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-okanagan","tag-science","tag-watershed"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}