Two Canadians, two Americans appointed to Osoyoos Lake Board

PENTICTON – Four new members have been appointed to the International Osoyoos Lake Board of Control.

The appointments – two American and two Canadians from the Osoyoos Lake region – were announced yesterday, Oct. 1, by the International Joint Commission.

The Commission was established in 1909 by the Canadian and US governments to help prevent and resolve disputes over international waters. The Osoyoos Lake Board of Control was established in 1946 to direct the operation of the Zosel Dam, which controls the level of Osoyoos Lake.

Osoyoos Mayor Sue McKortoff and Okanagan Basin Water Board executive director Dr. Anna Warwick-Sears are the two Canadian appointees.

Mckortoff lives on Osoyoos Lake and is connected to regional levels of local government with positions on the Okanagan Basin Water Board and Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen.

Warwick-Sears holds a doctorate in biology and has significant experience directing water management activities within the Okanagan basin.

Representing U.S. interests is John Arterburn, a strong advocate of the fish resources of the Okanagan River Basin. He works with the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in Washington State and is principal investigator with the Okanagan Basin Monitoring and Evaluation Program.

The other American appointee is Ford Waterstrat of Oroville, WA. He has been a resident on Osoyoos Lake for 60 years, working to improve the quality of the lake through his presidency of the Lake Osoyoos Association. He has secured grants from the State of Washington to survey the lake for invasive plants and prepare a plan to deal with them, as well as treating the lake for milfoil.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.