City of Vernon announces changes to water reclamation

The City of Vernon announced changes to its water reclamation process this afternoon.

Starting February 2020 treated reclaimed water will be discharged to Okanagan Lake for a portion of the year as opposed to the MacKay reservoir which the city says is almost at full capacity.

“This discharge will allow this year’s spray irrigation program to draw down the level of the reservoir. It is important to note that the discharge of reclaimed water to Okanagan Lake is common practice for municipalities on its shoreline and the water coming from Vernon Water Reclamation Centre (VWRC) is safe and treated in order to protect Okanagan Basin, its people, and its ecosystems in the region,” Vernon Mayor Victor Cumming said.

The City of Kelowna, West Kelowna, Penticton and Peachland discharge treated reclaimed water to Okanagan Lake every day. City officials maintain there is minimal environmental impact.

At a press conference Monday, city staff said the reservoir is nearing capacity “due to factors outside the city’s control.”

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“Climate change was probably the biggest factor,” Serge Kozin, manager of Vernon Water Reclamation Centre said.

“The rains in 2017, cooler weather, smoke in the valley has decreased the air temperature and we just cannot irrigate as much and subsequently the reservoir level just keeps coming up slowly year after year and that’s caused this event for us,” Kozin said.

Reclaimed water from the reservoir is used to irrigate local golf courses, ball diamonds, soccer pitches, and various types of farmland.

City staff say they conducted several studies and looked at alternate locations for the discharge but determined extending the discharge to other locations is not feasible mainly because of cost. No timeline was determined and staff are working with the Ministry of Environment to outline a schedule.

In order to provide more information about the comprehensive water reclamation process, the public is invited to take a guided tour of the VWRC on Saturday, January 25. Two tours will be available (starting at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.) and will take approximately 90 minutes each.