North Okanagan orchards at risk amid drought, water restrictions

Drought conditions have set in early in the Okanagan and the Vernon area is already facing severe water restrictions.

It’s not just homeowners forced to cut their water use but also North Okanagan farmers, who were ordered to reduce water use by 70 per cent.

That doesn’t sit well with orchardists in the region.

“Growers understand the seriousness of the drought, but a 70 per cent reduction in agricultural water is not just a crop-production issue. At that level, this becomes an orchard-survival issue,” Deep Brar, BC Fruit Growers’ Association president, said in a news release.

It comes after the Greater Water Vernon Water service area was placed on the region’s stage three water-use restriction. For non-agricultural properties, that means no watering lawns and no filling of private pools. The goal is to cut water use by 50%, according to a North Okanagan Regional District news release issued, June 4.

Instead, outdoor water use is meant to be reduced to maintaining trees, food gardens and other essential plantings, according to the regional district.

Extremely low levels in the Duteau reservoirs led the regional district to order agricultural properties to reduce their water use to 30%. If not drastically reduced, they could risk their water being shut off for the entire summer.

“The drought conditions we’re experiencing this year are serious and require all of us to take immediate action,” regional district board chair Shirley Fowler said in the release.

All customers caught not complying will get one warning, then escalating fines.

Brar, meanwhile, said lawns and annual crops can survive, but it’s a dire risk for orchards.

“If those trees die, the impact is measured in years, not weeks,” he said.

iNFOnews.ca reached out to the Okanagan Basin Water Board for comment on the region’s drought conditions, but a spokesperson did not respond.

The board did, however, issue an news release about the conditions last week.

According to the water board, the Okanagan has seen only half the typical rainfall this spring in most areas. With the summer approaching, it’s not likely the region will escape a continued drought. While the Vernon area has seen 56% of typical precipitation this spring, it’s worse in the south. Kelowna is at 47% and Penticton at just 21% of typical levels.

“A significant and sustained period of wet weather would be needed to improve conditions this season, and even more to make up for several years of accumulated drought,” the water board news release reads.

Vernon has the highest-level water restriction so far in the region, while Vancouver has stepped up with a similar response by barring lawn watering.