Oliver Irrigation System Needs $1M Fix

Farmers in the Oliver area may be facing a major hurdle come seeding time thanks to a water issue that may end up wreaking havoc on the domestic water supply as well.

Mayor Ron Hovanes said they currently have two water systems, one for domestic water and one for irrigation water.

For irrigating, they divert part of the flow of the Okanagan River into a canal where they pressurize water to provide for agriculture.

In January there was a rockslide at Gallagher Lake, just north of Oliver, which hit a buried right section of the canal, and broke the pipes in a section directly under a cliff.

“It’s been unsafe to work underneath that rock slide because there are still rocks coming down,” said Hovanes. “So we have hired scalers to remove loose rocks and then we need to get in there and fix it.”

So far, there are two obstacles, according to the Mayor. First of all, the cost to get the system up and running again was estimated upwards of a $1 million, for a temporary fix by summer and a more permanent fix by fall.

Secondly, the timing is a little less than ideal.

“Traditionally we put water into our canal the first week of April, which is only a couple weeks away,” said Hovanes. “The timing is critical.

“We’re working very, very hard and trying to come to a solution for how to get water in there for irrigation season.”

About 250 farmers growing fruits and vegetable, and those running vineyard operations, all heavily rely on the local irrigation system, according to Hovanes. In fact, the largest individual customer for water in the area is the Osoyoos Indian Band for some of their vineyard operations.

“The huge wineries, they’re all going to be affected if we can’t get water out to them,” he explained.

Hovanes said he’s also concerned that other residents will have lower quality water.

“If we do anything that is going to attach the two systems together, then there’s the concern, of course, that there could be the possibility of cross-contamination between the irrigation water and the domestic water,” Hovanes said. “The last thing we’d like to see is a boil-water advisory for our community—urban and rural—for the whole agricultural season.”

Right now Hovanes said they’re working hard to finance the fix and have asked the province for some form of emergency funding to help with the cost of addressing this issue.

“This problem we have goes far beyond just the town of Oliver. We’d be more than appreciative if the province would step in,” he said.