The statements on the MakeWaterWork.ca website are alarming in themselves.
Did you know?
- 24 per cent of all Okanagan water is used outside our homes – mostly on lawns and gardens.
- There is less water available per person in the Okanagan than anywhere else in Canada.
- The average person in the Okanagan uses 675 litres of water each day. The average Canadian uses 329.
It’s no wonder then that several Okanagan mayors and councillors have taken the pledge to make water work.
An initiative by the Okanagan Basin Water Board’s Okanagan WaterWise program, it only makes sense for everyone involved that we encourage outdoor water conservation during hot Okanagan summers.
And their timing is perfect, as you may have noticed the mercury has been climbing of late and is scheduled to stay there for the foreseeable future.
Make Water Work provides residents with tips to get the most of outdoor watering, like only sprinkling between dusk and dawn and only where it’s needed, that is on plants and lawns, not pavement.
Certainly the higher price of H2O has already led many to conserve more and water their lawns less but it doesn’t hurt to have added incentive to preserve our most precious resource.
It’s good for community leaders to take the plunge, so to speak, but we encourage all Okanagan Valley residents to also take the pledge at www.MakeWaterWork.ca to truly make a difference in our quest to use much less than we do now.
And it doesn’t hurt that by taking the pledge can earn you $5,000 in WaterWise yard upgrades.
Let’s all do our best to make the Okanagan a great place to live for decades to come.
