The Mission Creek water use plan review has become an urgent issue for the Okanagan Basin Water Board.
Not updated since it was developed by BC Hydro in 2010, for maintaining stream flows for fish during drought conditions, the Mission Creek water use has been complicated by recent changes.
Among them, the City of 91大黄鸭 has taken over the former South East 91大黄鸭 Irrigation District, Black Mountain Irrigation District has proposed water management changes, residential and irrigated areas have increased and extreme creek low-flows have become more frequent.
As well, sockeye and chinook salmon released as fry into Mission Creek will begin to return within the next few years and will require higher flow levels to allow them to spawn.
OBWB executive director Anna Warwick Sears says she intends to apply to the Watershed Security Fund to support the plan update process, ideally, a collaborative process that should include representatives from the City of 91大黄鸭, Black Mountain Irrigation, Rutland Water Works, water allocations branch of the Ministry of Water, Lands and Resource Stewardship, Westbank First Nation and Okanagan Nation Alliance.
She noted the District of Summerland has been operating under a successful water use plan since 2005.
"Although they are not regulatory, they are developed collaboratively, and mutually agreed upon by water users, and are very useful for reducing conflicts and environmental harm in dry conditions," Warwick Sears stated in her report to the water board at its Dec. 3 meeting.
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A collaborative project to protect residential properties from spring flooding and regenerate the Lower Chute Creek ecosystem is well underway, the OBWB learned in a presentation from Dr. Peter Mortifee, with the Chute Creek Stewardship Society.
The restoration project has been funded in part by the OBWB's water conservation and quality improvement grant program.
In the early 1960s, the natural flow of water from the apex of the alluvial fan of lower Chute Creek was constrained by a concrete flume in order to carry the water across the fan into Okanagan Lake over the shortest possible distance.
As a consequence, the fish spawning grounds and associated ecosystems were completely disrupted. Also, on several occasions, the residents of the alluvial fan have been subjected to flooding from the overlapping of the banks of the flume, most recently in 2017 and 2018.
The concrete flume failed in 2018 as it is reaching the end of its functional lifespan and is in urgent need of replacement.
Short-term repairs, such as filling holes with concrete and bolstering the terminus of the concrete flume have also been carried out in 2018 and 2019.
The first stage of the three-stage project has been completed 鈥� creating a feasibility and conceptual mediation design.
The second stage has seen the replacement of the Indian Rock Road bridge working in conjunction with the Penticton Indian Band and Okanagan Nation Alliance, completed while the remediation work of Chute Creek is underway.
The final stage will involve stewardship, including the construction of an interpretive viewing platform with signage in English and nsyilxcen languages, a historical record of the project to be displayed and archived at Naramata Museum, consideration of the development of a salmonid-fry release program and monitoring of creek functioning and restorative work outcomes.
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The invasive mussel forces which the OBWB has been making dedicated efforts to keep out of B.C. lakes and rivers have appeared to bolster its forces.
There has been a discovery in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta of California of the invasive Golden Mussel.
Originally from China, this mussel has spread to Korea, Japan and South America in recent decades. It poses the same risks to infrastructure and habitat as does the invasive Zebra and Quagga Mussels, with the characteristics of being slightly more susceptible to cold water and slightly more tolerant of warm water.
The biggest concern about the Golden Mussel is it needs much less calcium compared to the lowest calcium requirements of Quagga Mussels, meaning that a number of water bodies that are not currently at risk from Zebra or Quagga mussels could be at risk from Golden Mussels.
"Despite the increased risk of another invasive mussel species, the prevention strategy to protect our waters remains the same," says a report by deputy administrator James Littley to the OBWB.
"Mandatory watercraft inspections and limits on watercraft travelling from high-risk areas remain the best policies to protect our water."
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The winter weather watch predictions for the Okanagan remain a bit of a mystery.
Despite harsh weather events in other parts of B.C. and a predicted La Nina winter, which should see more rainfall and cooler temperatures, the Okanagan posted less rainfall than usual in September and November this year compared to the monthly average rainfall from 1994-2023 in Coldstream, 91大黄鸭 and Penticton.
While the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts the La Nina conditions will persist into the spring, Environment and Climate Change Canada's long-term forecast for November to January does not show a clear trend scenario for B.C.
"Seasonal forecasting is highly challenging, so disagreement between models is not uncommon," says an OBWB staff report.
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In response to the cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) rising threat to drinking water across the Okanagan, the water stewardship council, an advisory group to the OBWB, held a virtual meeting with various organizations on Nov. 13 to address the issue, co-chaired by Krista Derrickson, from the Westbank First Nation, and Ed Hoppe, with the City of 91大黄鸭.
The meeting focused on improving monitoring, data collection and predictive modelling for better management of drinking water sources.
Water contaminated with cyanobacteria can have direct skin contact with people, with its toxins causing allergic dermatitis issues such as rash, and itching for blisters, most commonly manifested within 24 hours of exposure.
If contaminated cyanobacteria toxins appear in drinking water, various adverse health effects can include upset stomach, vomiting, diarrhea and both liver and kidney damage.
