House of Commons - April 18, 2024: OBWB Presents to Cttee on Environment & Sustainable Development

We were pleased to be invited to speak to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development on April 18.
Specifically, the Okanagan Basin Water Board's Executive Director Anna Warwick Sears was invited to present on freshwater issues.
“I’m here to talk to you about two really urgent issues which require timely investment by the Government of Canada to avert massive costs and suffering in the near future,” she began. Dr. Sears then lay out local concerns regarding extreme weather threatening water supplies and ecosystems, and the threat invasive zebra and quagga mussels pose to Okanagan waters.
Specific requests to the committee included:
• That the Government of Canada further invest in local government flood, drought, and wildfire mitigation efforts to prevent further damage from extreme weather.
• That the Government of Canada provide equivalent resources for water and aquatic invasive species management to Western Canada as it does to Eastern Canada.
• That the federal government fully implement the recommendations of the Report on Aquatic Invasive Species by Commissioner Julie Gelfand.
Find our briefing note at tinyurl.com/27ndck2f .
The full committee presentation and Q&A is available at tinyurl.com/3hzjnzzj.