Water Stewardship Information Sources
| ID | 1953 |
|---|---|
| Citation | Western Water Associates Ltd, Polar Geosciences Ltd and ESSA Technologies Ltd. 2014. Final Report: Okanagan Water Allocation Tool Plan. Prepared for Okanagan Basin Water Board. |
| Organization | OBWB |
| URL | http://www.obwb.ca/wsd/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/OWAT_final_report.pdf |
| Abstract/Description or Keywords | The Okanagan Basin Water Board, in partnership with B.C. Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations (MFLNRO), commissioned this report to develop a plan for an Okanagan water allocation tool, known as the OWAT. The primary purpose of the tool is to support water licence decisions made by MFLNRO. Decisions regarding licence approval (with or without conditions) or licence refusal are currently made using guidelines and policies that were last updated in the 1990s. The pending new Water Sustainability Act legislation and continued the pressure on water resources in the valley fuel the need for a more sophisticated, scientifically based and transparent decision support tool. The overall objective of this project was to review existing Okanagan data and models to determine how they can best be used to create an effective decision support tool for water licensing in the Okanagan, and to identify tasks required to develop the tool. The project engaged key knowledge holders and end users and included the following steps: ? Review of existing Okanagan Basin studies, specifically, the hydrologic and water accounting models completed for the Water Supply and Demand Project, as well as a review of Environmental Flow Needs (a.k.a., In-stream Flow Needs or EFNs) information; ? Consultations with MFLNRO water allocation staff and other knowledge holders to advise on OWAT objectives and a framework; ? Preparation of a draft OWAT plan and vetting of the plan at a Kelowna workshop attended by knowledge holders and end-users; and ? Completing a final OWAT plan report documenting the process, information gaps and questions to be addressed and recommended approach for plan development. The focus of this project was to evaluate the potential applicability of two platforms to house the OWAT: 1) the Northeast Water Tool (NEWT) adapted to the Okanagan; and 2) the Okanagan Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) platform, which served as the framework for the existing Okanagan Hydrologic Connectivity Model (OHCM). allocation, water supply, watershed management |
| Information Type | report |
| Regional Watershed | Okanagan |
| Sub-watershed if known | |
| Aquifer # | |
| Comments | |
| Project status | complete |
| Contact Name | Doug Geller |
| Contact Email | [email protected] |