Roadmap to Source Water Protection

This section describes the five main steps in the source protection planning process.

The roadmap describes the steps to help you get started or continue your source protection journey, from bringing partners together, completing a source water assessment, preparing a response plan, and putting the response plan into action, to evaluating your source protection plan.

Click on a step to get started.

PARTNER

Bring partners together

Organize a technical advisory committee (TAC)

ASSESS

Hire a qualified professional to conduct a source water assessment (the first piece of your source protection plan)

Work with the TAC to identify issues and solutions

PLAN

Prepare your response plan (the second piece of your source protection plan)

Set goals – plan S.M.A.R.T.
Identify authorities and stakeholders
Determine and secure resources
Develop budget and timeline
Establish metrics

ACT

Carry out your response plan

Overcome barriers to implementation

Track progress of plans

EVALUATE

Monitor your source protection plan and revise as needed

Use the metrics established within your source protection plan to gauge success

Modify the plan as needed to continuously improve the plan

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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.

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.