Historical Trends in Annual Water Yields for the Okanagan Basin, British Columbia, Canada

Abstract

The Okanagan Basin in south-central British Columbia, Canada, includes the Okanagan River watershed upstream from the outlet of Osoyoos Lake, with a total area of 8,046 km^2^. Over the past century, the population of the Basin has grown rapidly, and this trend is expected to continue. Water management issues attract significant attention in the region, given projected declines in supply and increases in demand. Historical streamflow data was obtained for three hydrometric stations on the Okanagan River between the outlet of Okanagan Lake at Penticton and near the U.S. border at Oliver. Collectively, the historical data series indicate no temporal changes in regional annual water yields for the Okanagan Basin over the past century, despite large increases in population and agricultural activity over this time. Although rapid and extensive human settlement and development of the region, along with possible climate change signatures during the 20th century, has potentially altered the inflow hydrographs to tributary streams in the Basin, the overall water yield of the region appears to be stable and possibly increasing.