The Friends of the Summerland Ornamental Gardens have received a $25,000 grant from the Okanagan Basin Water Board.
The money is for developing best practices for sustainable landscaping in the Okanagan.
The award is part of the OBWB’s Water Conservation and Quality Improvement Grant program.
The grant will be used to expand a xeriscape demonstration garden, convert sod to drought-tolerant turf, improve irrigation, and conduct public outreach and education.
OBWB has approved $300,000 in grant funding to projects that will conserve and protect the water of the Okanagan.
“Once again, we had a lot of great applications,” said Dr. Anna Warwick Sears, executive director for the OBWB. In all, there were 39 applications submitted seeking a total of $672,480. The OBWB reviewed each application and ranked them on a number of criteria, including basin-wide benefit, focus on action, collaboration and promotion of best practices. Funds that were left over from projects in previous years were added to the pot of $300,000, making $339,154 available.
“This program is a great way to support non-profits in our community, and local governments, do on-the-ground, tangible work that improves water in our valley for people as well as everything else that depends on a stable, clean water supply,” said Warwick Sears.
In the South Okanagan, six grants were awarded for a total of $84,040. The Town of Osoyoos is getting $15,000 for pilot testing of biological manganese removal.
Okanagan Nation Alliance is receiving $12,018 for a water intake feasibility study for Okanagan River’s connected oxbow lakes, and $4,000 for phase two of a water quality monitoring project.
The City of Penticton is receiving $16,022 to assess Penticton Creek watershed.
The Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen is getting $2,000 for the Water Ambassador program.
In the Central Okanagan, 13 grants were awarded, totaling $197,214. Projects include City of Kelowna replacing sod with drought tolerant turf, and Okanagan Xeriscape Association offering a garden contest to encourage low-water and xeriscape landscapes and other educational programs.
Six grants worth $57,900 in total were awarded in the North Okanagan. Some of the projects include a Make-Your-Own Rainbarrel Workshop and restoration on Coldstream Creek, led by Greater Vernon Water.
“The water in this valley is all connected. This grant program is a way to bring residents of the Okanagan together to take on projects that improve water in their own backyards, but which also have valley-wide benefit. We have one valley, one water,” said Warwick Sears.
Since the program began awarding funds in 2006, some $2.1 million has been granted.
