Golf courses, wineries straining Okanagan water: report

My friend Barry Sharpe over at BCGolfNews.com is sharing news of a study on the environmental pressure golf courses and wineries are placing on water supplies in the Okanagan.

In B.C.'s Okanagan, Canada's driest watershed, the population increased to 317,000 in 2001 compared with 115,000 in 1971 – a jump of about 175 per cent. The number of golf courses rose 600 per cent. Wineries increased 580 percent. "Everything we do in this watershed is water intensive," says Hans Schreier, a professor with the Institute for Resources and Environment at the University of British Columbia

The Okanagan is one of the few areas in Canada where grapes and fruit can be grown, but most of the irrigated water is being used to grow grass, "followed by apples and alfalfa . . . this is not growing water in a green context," he said. "Why not start looking at green water management and look at what is the best crop in the climactic conditions to give the best added value?"

As we discussed yesterday on BCWineLover.com, this year's Playhouse Wine Festival symposium had "Eco-friendly" winemaking as their topic. Water use, waste reduction and the carbon footprint of packaging and shipping were all discussed by the guest panelists and the audience.

For the full text of this report go directly to: Industry Must Plan Now For Climate Change Impacts, Water Shortages, Experts Say, Published by: Mark Lowey.