$24M invested in North Okanagan wastewater recovery project

Sep 17, 2019

The Regional District of North Okanagan (RDNO), Township of Spallumcheen and the Okanagan Indian Band (OIB) were awarded $24.3 million from the federal and provincial governments to fund the wastewater recovery project.

Cheers rang out from more than 100 people in attendance of the announcement made by Township of Spallumcheen Mayor Christine Fraser on Sept. 12. The project, which has been in the works for four years, has faced a number of hurdles and the government investment is one of the most significant milestones to date.

Reclaiming water is important for agricultural use, Fraser said. In one year in Spallumcheen, “over 1,000 acres lose all of their forage crops due to a shortage of water. With the new wastewater recovery project, over 600 acres of irrigation water for farming will be provided which is an enormous benefit to our farmers.”

Without the grant money, the project—which will benefit all three partners—would not be possible.

In fact, hurdles the RDNO, township and OIB overcame could have stopped the project dead in its track, had the partners and stakeholders been less determined.

Had the petition not been successful, or had the land not been obtained, or had the grant application failed, the shovel never would have been able to hit the ground. But the team prevailed; land was purchased, necessary petition processes were successful and government lobbying resulted in a successful grant award.

“Money like this doesn’t normally come here,” RDNO Electoral Area C director Amanda Shatzko said. “It goes to the Lower Mainland, it goes to Central and South Okanagan, but it often doesn’t come to the North Okanagan.”

RDNO Electoral Area B director Bob Fleming said the benefits of the project “will drive our economy for years to come.”

Click here to see more...

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.