Okanagan Water Supply & Demand Project
"We are one community, one valley, one water."
The Okanagan Basin
Water Licensing
Okanagan Water Allocation Tool
Surface Storage and Flow
Fish Flows
Water Managers
Annual Water Balance
Water Management & Use
Lake Evaporation
Surface Water Hydrology
Instream Flow Needs
Okanagan Water Demand Model
Okanagan Water Accounting Model
Phase 3 Scenarios
Demand Scenarios
Supply Scenarios
Implications for the Future
Key Findings » Water Use
Residential Water UseVolume or rate of water diverted or withdrawn from a water body (eg a stream, lake, or groundwaterWater existing below the ground surface in aquifers aquiferAn underground formation that stores groundwater) for use by humans on the land surface. Actual water use is determined through direct measurement. Water demand is an estimate of actual water use.
Across the Okanagan BasinLand area from which water drains towards a common pointThe Okanagan watershedLand area from which water drains towards a common point, or basinLand area from which water drains towards a common point, is a narrow strip that spans from Armstrong, British Columbia, Canada to the US border and includes five main lakes – Okanagan, Kalamalka-Wood, Skaha, Vaseux and Osoyoos – and surrounding mountains. The Okanagan BasinLand area from which water drains towards a common point includes all the land that feeds water to our big lakes, and is almost 200 km in length and 8,000 km2 in area. Kelowna, Vernon, Penticton and Osoyoos all lie within the Okanagan BasinLand area from which water drains towards a common point., indoor residential use averages 150 litres per person per day – about the same as the North American average.
Outdoor residential landscaping accounts for a year-round average of 525 litres per person per day – for a total consumption of 675 litres per person per day.
This means that during the mid-spring to mid-fall irrigation season, total residential water useVolume or rate of water diverted or withdrawn from a water body (eg a stream, lake, or groundwaterWater existing below the ground surface in aquifers aquiferAn underground formation that stores groundwater) for use by humans on the land surface. Actual water use is determined through direct measurement. Water demand is an estimate of actual water use. by Okanagan residents averages more than 1,000 litres per person per day.
These rates of water useVolume or rate of water diverted or withdrawn from a water body (eg a stream, lake, or groundwaterWater existing below the ground surface in aquifers aquiferAn underground formation that stores groundwater) for use by humans on the land surface. Actual water use is determined through direct measurement. Water demand is an estimate of actual water use. significantly exceed the B.C. (490 litres/day) and the Canadian (329 litres/day) averages.
Average End-Use of Water
86% of the water used by humans is for outdoor purposes: 55% is used by agriculture, 24% for residential outdoor use, 5% for golf courses , and 2% for parks and open spaces.
Only 14% is used indoors: 7% in homes, and 7% for commercial, industrial and institutional buildings.
In total, an average of 219,000 million litres (MLMegalitre. One ML = 1,000,000 litres, i.e. 1 dam3) is used for human needs each year. The actual amount each year varies depending on climate conditions.
Average End-Use of Water in the Okanagan BasinLand area from which water drains towards a common pointThe Okanagan watershedLand area from which water drains towards a common point, or basinLand area from which water drains towards a common point, is a narrow strip that spans from Armstrong, British Columbia, Canada to the US border and includes five main lakes – Okanagan, Kalamalka-Wood, Skaha, Vaseux and Osoyoos – and surrounding mountains. The Okanagan BasinLand area from which water drains towards a common point includes all the land that feeds water to our big lakes, and is almost 200 km in length and 8,000 km2 in area. Kelowna, Vernon, Penticton and Osoyoos all lie within the Okanagan BasinLand area from which water drains towards a common point. – 1996 to 2006
Efficiency of Outdoor Water UseVolume or rate of water diverted or withdrawn from a water body (eg a stream, lake, or groundwaterWater existing below the ground surface in aquifers aquiferAn underground formation that stores groundwater) for use by humans on the land surface. Actual water use is determined through direct measurement. Water demand is an estimate of actual water use.
The agricultural industry is a relatively efficient user of water compared with other outdoor users.
Agriculture uses 120,000 million litres (MLMegalitre. One ML = 1,000,000 litres, i.e. 1 dam3) of water per year to irrigate 18,300 hectares (ha), an average of 660 mm per ha.
The other three main outdoor uses – golf courses, parks, and residential landscaping – use a total of 68,000 MLMegalitre. One ML = 1,000,000 litres, i.e. 1 dam3 to irrigate 7585 ha, an average of 900 mm per ha.
Demand Measurement
Measurement and record keeping of bulk water withdrawals by major water suppliers and large individual licensees has not been standardized and is patchy and inconsistent, which creates problems for coordinated water management.
The BC Water UseVolume or rate of water diverted or withdrawn from a water body (eg a stream, lake, or groundwaterWater existing below the ground surface in aquifers aquiferAn underground formation that stores groundwater) for use by humans on the land surface. Actual water use is determined through direct measurement. Water demand is an estimate of actual water use. Reporting Centre assists water utilities in keeping an ongoing record of how much water we are using – critical information for managing valley water supplies and preparing for the shortages expected with a growing population and climate change.
Learn more about the BC Water UseVolume or rate of water diverted or withdrawn from a water body (eg a stream, lake, or groundwaterWater existing below the ground surface in aquifers aquiferAn underground formation that stores groundwater) for use by humans on the land surface. Actual water use is determined through direct measurement. Water demand is an estimate of actual water use. Reporting Centre
"The BC Water UseVolume or rate of water diverted or withdrawn from a water body (eg a stream, lake, or groundwaterWater existing below the ground surface in aquifers aquiferAn underground formation that stores groundwater) for use by humans on the land surface. Actual water use is determined through direct measurement. Water demand is an estimate of actual water use. Reporting Centre allows utilities to provide current water useVolume or rate of water diverted or withdrawn from a water body (eg a stream, lake, or groundwaterWater existing below the ground surface in aquifers aquiferAn underground formation that stores groundwater) for use by humans on the land surface. Actual water use is determined through direct measurement. Water demand is an estimate of actual water use. data and access historic data for trending. And just as importantly, we are able to see what other water utilities in the valley are extracting, helping us work together and manage our common water resource." – Bob Hrasko, former Water Supply Association of B.C Vice-Chair and Black Mountain Irrigation District (BMID) Administrator.
More Key Findings:
GroundwaterWater existing below the ground surface in aquifers
Surface Storage & Flow
Local Government Guide
Download the OBWB's Local Government User Guide to the Okanagan Water Supply & Demand Project (4.3Mb PDF)
Major Okanagan water study wins award
The Okanagan Basin Water Board and 13 of its partners have been presented with the "Award for Excellence in the Water and Waste Community" by the BC Water and Waste Association (BCWWA). The award was presented in recognition of the partnership's work on the three-year extensive Okanagan Water Supply and Demand Study.
For the full news release, click here.
Premier's Awards Finalist – Agriculture Water Demand Model
The Okanagan Basin Water Board, in partnership with the BC Ministry of Environment and with significant contributions from the BC Ministry of Agriculture, the BC Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development, Environment Canada, Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and the Okanagan Nation Alliance, is working to establish better systems to track natural water flows, establish water-use patterns, and estimate how these will change in the future.
More about Project Partners
Okanagan WaterWise, an Okanagan Basin Water Board outreach initiative, encourages conserving & protecting the Okanagan's most valuable natural resource - water.
Also visit OkanaganWaterWise on Facebook!
Follow @OkWaterWise!
Okanagan Water Science Library
Looking for more detail? Delve into the Okanagan Water Science Library, a searchable digital document database of water-related information compiled, studied and acquired about the Okanagan Basin.
Search by keyword or browse by topic below, or perform an Advanced Search (opens in new window).
Water QualityWater ManagementClimate ChangeHydrologyMeteorologyAgricultureCommercial/IndustrialFisheriesForestry & MiningRecreationResidentialUrban Development
By Title:
By Keyword(s):
Download the Phase 2 Final Summary Report and accompanying Reports, Appendices and Maps from the Summary Report Page
All data collected by the Project is housed in the Okanagan Water Database and managed by the OBWB.
Requests for specific data sets and models should be directed to the OBWB.
© 2011-2015 Okanagan Basin Water Board Okanagan Basin Water Supply & Demand Project Adapted from the Suffusion theme