LIVING WATER SMART: “The Okanagan Sustainable Water Strategy seeks to ensure water resources are managed in a broader sustainability framework,” stated Anna Warwick Sears, OBWB Executive Director (2009)
The Okanagan Sustainable Water Strategy
The Province’s Living Water Smart and Green Communities initiatives provide a framework and direction for convening for action in the Okanagan, on Vancouver Island and in Metro Vancouver. Each regional initiative is developing a vision and road map for doing business differently in order to change the way that land is developed and water is used. The Okanagan Sustainable Water Strategy connects the dots to Living Water Smart.
Doing Business Differently in the Okanagan
Completed in late 2008, the Okanagan Sustainable Water Strategy seeks to ensure water resources are managed in a broader sustainability framework – working towards a future for the Okanagan where water quality or quantity does not compromise human health and well-being, the environment, or the economy.
“The Sustainable Water Strategy is designed to build on the 1974 Okanagan Basin Study, a joint Federal/Provincial initiative to develop a comprehensive plan for the development and management of water resources in the Basin. The 1974 study is the only Basin-wide study completed to date for the Okanagan,” states Anna Warwick Sears, Executive Director of the Okanagan Basin Water Board.
Framework for Grounded Action
A subsequent Basin-wide study of surface water and groundwater resources – the 
Okanagan Water Supply and Demand Project – was initiated in 2004 and is expected to be completed in late 2009. Once complete, it will be complementary to the Sustainable Water Strategy. The Strategy articulates the vision and provides direction whereas the Supply and Demand Project provides the data needed to develop and implement strong water management practices.”
“The Sustainable Water Strategy is grounded in action. Twelve high-level Guiding Principles for water management and policy provide a framework for the Strategy. The key action items in the Strategy were developed respecting these Guiding Principles.”
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Click on Doing Business Differently: What ‘Convening for Action in the Okanagan’ Means.