District of Highlands Official Community Plan

The District of Highlands Official Community Plan states that all land use decisions must consider water (Section 2.1). Numerous sections in the OCP provide objectives and policy direction related to source water protection, including:

  • Section 3.3 – water features and riparian areas as environmentally sensitive areas,
  • Section 3.5 – watershed and groundwater management,
  • Section 3.8 – soil and water pollution,
  • Section 7.2 – water supply and well protection, and
  • Section 7.5 – surface water drainage and the importance of managing stormwater.
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We are all downstream.

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A healthy watershed is central to clean and abundant source water.

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Establishing setbacks, restoring riparian buffer zones along watercourses, and acquiring watershed segments can save money by preventing costly impacts to source water.

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British Columbia legislation related to source water protection is complicated, and the Government of British Columbia does not have a lead water agency.

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Local action supported by stable funding and consistent and coordinated approaches is imperative to maintaining source water quality.

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Funding for this project was provided by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Interior Health Authority, City of Kelowna, City of West Kelowna and the Okanagan Basin Water Board. This project was also supported through the Healthy Watersheds Initiative, which is delivered by the Real Estate Foundation of BC and Watersheds BC, with financial support from the Province of British Columbia as part of its $10-billion COVID-19 response.