The District of Lake Country, British Columbia will receive a $10,000 Water Conservation and Quality Improvement grant from the Okanagan Basin Water Board. The money will go toward the Vernon Creek Watershed/Beaver Lake Road Drainage Assessment project.
“The work was identified as a necessary risk management action,” said Lake Country mayor, James Baker. “It involves investigating the drainage of culverts and ditches along Beaver Lake Road and connections between sediment sources on Vernon Creek that may be influencing terrain stability.”
According to a 2010 source water assessment of the Vernon Creek watershed, slope failures and landslides upstream of Lake Country’s water intake posed a high risk to both water quality and infrastructure. A project to identify areas along Beaver Lake Road where downslope terrain instability could be linked to road drainage issues is the last remaining high priority risk management action from a list proposed in 2010.
“The overall purpose of the project is to improve drinking water quality,” said District of Lake Country director of engineering and operations, Michael Mercer. “The District is very proactive in taking action on water conservation and water quality improvements for our community.”
“Lake Country’s Water Master Plan approved in 2012 was developed to provide direction on work to be undertaken to meet defined provincial objectives and health requirements for drinking water,” he added. “We are very pleased with the progress made thus far.”
