Watershed Security in the North Aberdeen Plateau

On June 12^th, POLIS’ Oliver M. Brandes participated in a wildfire resilience and source drinking water field trip and workshop hosted by the North Aberdeen Plateau Partnership and B.C. Ministry of Forests. He was there in his role as wildfire resilience and watershed security governance advisor to the partnership leadership team, which has been working with the provincial government since 2024 to protect the North Aberdeen Plateau from the risk of wildfire.

A larger invited group toured the North Aberdeen Plateau on the unceded territory of the syilx Okanagan people. The area is the primary source of drinking water for communities in Lake Country and Greater Vernon, serving over 80,000 people. The immersive and stimulating day included site visits up and down the drinking water watershed, including stops at the Harvey Lake intake, views of Duteau Canyon, and the Bluenose wildfire treatment site. Along the way, Elders Susan Oliverius and Bernie Marchand spoke about the cultural significance of these sites and historical activities and practices, such as berry picking and medicine gathering. The field trip participants included a broad range of partners, staff, and senior leadership from the Okanagan Indian Band, B.C. Ministry of Forests, B.C. Wildfire Service, B.C. Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, and local government, as well as leading regional experts in wildfire and watershed security from the University of British Columbia Okanagan and beyond.

The field trip was connected to the broader, ongoing, multi-year effort to implement the formally endorsed North Aberdeen Plateau Guidance Plan — a shared framework that sets out how the partners will work together to protect water, cultural values, and the landscape in the face of ongoing climate pressures, including drought and wildfire.

An important element of this unique partnership to advance wildfire resilience and watershed security is the $15 million investment by the Ministry of Forests to begin planning and implementing fire-mitigation prescriptions to protect water, water infrastructure, and cultural heritage values in the North Aberdeen Plateau. This multi-year, multi-phase project will help with wildfire mitigation through fuel reduction and facilitate the development of a long-term plan, involving tenure and title holders, to protect the shared watershed and cultural values and develop landscape-level, partnership-based resilience investment projects to demonstrate how to deliver risk reduction in the natural and built environment at the watershed scale.

Relevant links:

Leaders in the North Okanagan join forces to protect crucial watershed from fire (IndigiNews, March 6, 2026)

North Aberdeen Plateau Guidance Plan Endorsed by Regional Partners (Regional District North Okanagan, November 10, 2025)

A 250-year plan is in the works to protect Okanagan-Similkameen watersheds (IndigiNews, May 2, 2025)

Wildfire-prevention project will keep Okanagan communities safe, protect water supply (BC Gov News, May 6, 2024)