A dozen communities in the Columbia Basin will be given a chance to learn about water conservation, irrigation system audits and free residential landscaping thanks to the Columbia Basin Trust’s Water Smart Initiative.

The Columbia Basin Water Smart Initiative (Water Smart), developed by Columbia Basin Trust (CBT), helps local governments assess their water conservation needs and develops plans to reduce community water consumption.

Through Water Smart, 22 participating local governments recently completed community specific Water Smart Action Plans, most of which identified outdoor irrigation in the summer months as one of the highest water uses in the community.

To effectively address this high outdoor water use, CBT developed the Water Smart Ambassador program in collaboration with participating Water Smart communities.

“The Water Smart Ambassadors will actively support residents by providing site specific recommendations to help them reduce their
outdoor water use,” said Kindy Gosal, CBT Director, Water and Environment.

From May to August, Water Smart Ambassadors will be carrying out residential irrigation audits and promoting water conservation awareness and education. To schedule a free residential audit, contact your local participating community at their municipal office.
The following East Kootenay governments are participating: City of Fernie, City of Kimberley, District of Sparwood and the Village of Radium Hot Springs.

“We are so pleased to be involved with the Water Smart Initiative and encourage all residents to participate and find out more about how they can save water and make a difference,” said Dee Conklin, Mayor of Radium Hot Springs.

The goal of Water Smart is to reduce community water use across the Basin by 20% by 2015. Each community determines its own local water conservation target that will contribute to the overall Basin-wide target. Learn more at www.cbt.org/watersmart.

e-KNOW/Ian Cobb

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