Projects and Initiatives

Nk’eʔxép (Drought) Management

Co-Management

The Nk’eʔxép (Drought) Management Committee works to address and mitigate drought and water scarcity by collaborating to develop recommendations for water management based on Indigenous and Western knowledge and science. The Committee takes a proactive and precautionary approach to drought and water scarcity management based on co-management, local collaboration with water users, mitigation, prevention, and place-based approaches.

This work is grounded in the collaborative development of management recommendations to set water scarcity levels and to manage drought and water scarcity response. Water scarcity levels are set based on a unique framework developed by the Nk’eʔxép (Drought) Management Committee that defines water scarcity levels based on local characteristics, water demands, storage capacity, environmental sensitivities and management priorities.

The Nk’eʔxép (Drought) Management Committee is guided by the Grandmother Teachings (Nłeʔkepmx) and the Four Food Chiefs (syilx). These protocols fundamentally reorient the drought response around a core understanding of a shared responsibility to ensure that water can maintain all of its relationships: the relationships between people as well as the relationships between people and the land, water, plants, and animals.

The Nk’eʔxép (Drought) Management Committee, NWGP Core Council, City of Merritt, and the irrigation community are involved in collaborative discussions for the protection of ecological and cultural values, including salmon spawning and rearing habitat. Local collaboration has led to voluntary water use reductions and earlier action.

Water Scarcity in the Nicola River Watershed

Non-drought	NORMAL	DRY	VERY DRY	EXTREMELY DRY	Exceptionally Dry
Level 0	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4	Level 5

Level	Impacts	General Response Measures
0	There is sufficient water to meet socio-economic and ecosystem needs	Preparedness
1	Adverse impacts to socio-economic or ecosystem are rare	Preparedness
2	Adverse impacts to socio-economic or ecosystem are unlikely	Conservation Local water restrictions where appropriate
3	Adverse impacts to socio-economic or ecosystem are possible	Conservation Local water restrictions likely
4	Adverse impacts to socio-economic or ecosystem are likely	Conservation and local water restrictions Regulatory action possible
5	Adverse impacts to socio-economic or ecosystem are almost certain	Conservation and local water restrictions Regulatory action possible Possible emergency response

Visit the BC Drought Information Portal for more information.

What does high water scarcity mean?

Fish are at risk due to low water levels and high water temperatures
Salmon species struggle to spawn in the late summer
Not enough water available for agricultural use, creating economic hardship
Lack of food and water available for wildlife

What can I do?

Home

Limit outdoor watering
Do not water during the heat of the day
Take shorter showers

Farm

Schedule irrigation to match crop needs
Improve water system efficiencies
Implement a program using real-time Water data

Industry

Reduce non-essential water use
Recycle water used in industrial operations
Use water-efficient methods and equipment

Report any fish kills and extreme low water levels to the RAPP line. 24 hr Hotline 1-877-952-RAPP or visit rapp.bc.ca.

Looking to the Future

The long-term vision in the Nicola Watershed is to remove the need to have a drought response committee by recreating a resilient future that allows the watershed and all of its beings to flourish.

Achieving that resilient future means not only addressing water use but the underlying drivers of drought like the cumulative impacts of climate change and past land use change. Drought resilience will require a suite of prevention, mitigation, and restoration measures—from reforming forest practices, to supporting functioning hydrology, to increasing riparian zone protection, to increasing water storage through means that mimic natural processes. Implementing these measures will require a high level of collaboration.

The Nk’eʔxép (Drought) Management Committee is embracing co-governance and shared authority based on trust and relationships, all of which are central to achieving a resilient future for the Nicola Watershed.

Read the Case Study here.