The ONA Chiefs Executive Council brought 26 leaders together on September 11 for the newly formed Okanagan and Similkameen River Watershed’s Collaborative Leadership Table to discuss shared water challenges. This was the third Leadership Table meeting and is a historic moment and turning point in regional watershed planning as the leaders committed to signing a Memorandum of Agreement to formalize their collaboration to protect siwɬkʷ (water). The Memorandum of Agreement sets out how the parties will work together on common siwɬkʷ priorities.
y̓il̓mixʷm simo, Chief Robert Louie of Westbank First Nation and Mayor Gord Milsom of West Kelowna co-hosted the meeting. “We are here to work together to protect what is precious to us, particularly the water. The Okanagan, and Similkameen Rivers are vital,” said Chief Louie. “We aim to learn from each other and understand the importance of the Memorandum of Agreement, which will set the political tone for our collaboration. I am hopeful that we will finalize this Memorandum before the snow falls”. Mayor Milsom stated, “It is our responsibility as community leaders to work together to protect and restore our water.”
The Leadership Table is a Syilx-led initiative is a continuation of three decades of work by the Syilx Nation and their partners to ensure siwɬkʷ is protected, restored and available for all living things. It was the vision of the late Chief Albert Saddleman in the early 1990’s to bring the salmon back to the Okanagan Watershed; and his vision included for the salmon to return, so does the health of the watersheds. ONA siwɬkʷ work includes the siwɬkʷ Water Declaration, the syilx siwɬkʷ Strategy and the kɬúsx̌nítkʷ Okanagan Lake Responsibility Planning Initiative (OKLRPI). Since 2018 the OKLRPI has convened Syilx and non-Syilx partners that includes municipalities, regional districts, provincial agencies and others to start a planning process to work towards an Okanagan and Similkameen Watershed Responsibility Plan.
To initiate the Collaborative Leadership Table, ONA partnered with the Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources (CIER), a national Indigenous-directed non-profit charitable organization to adapt CIER’s Collaborative Leadership Initiative (CLI) model for the Okanagan region. Tessa Terbasket, a Leadership Table Coordinator says, “We know that watershed issues for the Okanagan and Similkameen Rivers are too complex for any one government to be able to solve on their own.”
caylx, Richard Armstrong, Syilx Knowledge Holder is also very supportive of the initiative and said “It makes me happy to hear that the Syilx Nation leaders are welcoming local municipal leaders to start talking about siwɬkʷ. Our elders have always told us that water is shared for all living things, and we need to work together to ensure it can sustain itself for future generations.”
The public signing event for the Memorandum of Agreement will be held on November 15, 2024, in snpink’tn, Penticton. The Coordinating team are undertaking the planning for this historic event and will be sending out a press release and background information prior to the event.
For more information on this initiative contact Jordan Coble, Natural Resources Committee Chair at 250-300-5673