Contest running to name a new milfoil harvester

Apr 20, 2026 | 11:02 AM

The Okanagan Basin Water Board wants help from the public naming a new machine.

The OBWB said it had a new milfoil harvester that will be used to clear the invasive plant from lakes across the Okanagan.

With the launch of the new piece of equipment, the OBWB decided to crowdsource names for the harvester, saying it could come up with memorable and unique ideas.

“Past names have not always been that creative,” James Littley, OBWB Chief Operating Officer, said.

“We have rototillers and harvesters, and their names are ‘Red Roto,’ ‘Orange Roto’ and ‘MRV’ for ‘Milfoil Rototilling Vessel.’ We’ve run one other naming contest for our amphibious harvester, and the winner was ‘Hippo,’ representing that weed-munching, water-loving animal.”

Emegrency Preparedness

Workshop to help prepare older adults ahead of summer heat, fire season

1h ago

Reality Check - Life Without a Home

Pair of Vernonities to spend days on the street to raise homelessness awareness, outreach funds

Apr 19, 2026

Housing Starts Report

Housing construction rebounded in Vernon, slowed in Kelowna, B.C.

Apr 17, 2026

People can submit their names for the new harvester to communications@obwb.ca by May 21. The person with the winning name will win a ride on the harvester and a chance to cut some milfoil.

This new machine will replace a harvester that had been in service since 1978. It has a larger capacity, a better design for removing the Eurasian watermilfoil, and will perform better at protecting lake ecosystems. It also has a custom-built adjustable operator platform that will allow the harvester to bass between basins and under low-clearance bridges.

“It’s a pretty cool and versatile new machine,” Littley said.

“Not only does the operator platform go up and down making it taller or shorter so it can go under the bridge in Osoyoos, the paddlewheels are mounted on arms that sit on the deck during transport and then deploy themselves into position on the sides of the machine in the water. With the old machines we had to unbolt them every time we moved the machine.”

by Liam Verster

View Comments