Integrated water resource management and British Columbia’s Okanagan Basin Water Board

• Main Authors: Natalya Melnychuk, Nelson Jatel, Anna L. Warwick Sears
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Subjects: British Columbia; Canada; First Nations
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/07900627.2016.1214909

This study examines successes and limitations of integrated water resource management (IWRM) for the Okanagan Basin Water Board (OBWB), a basin management entity in British Columbia, Canada. Effective governance, adequate financing and scientifically informed decision making are attributes contributing to the OBWB’s IWRM success. OBWB’s IWRM challenges include meaningful engagement of First Nations, public apathy towards water governance, succession planning for retiring professionals, and management authority limitations. Constraints on the OBWB’s authority and perceived lack of need to formalize the IWRM approach will affect other local IWRM applications. The study adds a western Canadian example of basin management to IWRM practice.