The BC Fruit Growers' Association (BCFGA) is calling on Greater Vernon Water and the Regional District of North Okanagan to halt the current approach to agricultural water shut-offs and immediately establish a coordinated management plan with growers and senior government. As of July 13, agricultural properties that have reached their reduced seasonal allocation are having their water service cut off entirely — in the middle of the growing season, during the hottest weeks of the year. 

Greater Vernon Water's decision to reduce agricultural allocations by 70 per cent, and to shut off service once that allocation is reached, was made without a coordinated survival plan for the orchards and farms it affects. BCFGA's position is straightforward: a regional water authority cannot turn off the water to a food-producing sector of this scale without first working through the consequences with growers and with the province. 

“No one is disputing that the drought is serious and growers are not asking anyone to deliver water that does not exist,” said Deep Brar, president, BCFGA. “What we are saying is that you cannot simply shut off the water to hundreds of farms and treat it as a routine restriction. When the decision you are making could kill orchards that took 20 years to grow, you have an obligation to coordinate that decision – with the growers who will live with it, and with the province, which holds tools that a regional district does not.” 

The economic stakes are severe. The shut-offs affect more than 2,100 acres of apple and cherry orchards in the Greater Vernon area. BCFGA estimates widespread orchard loss could cause more than $250 million in direct losses, and more than $300 million once lost production, packing, trucking, labour, suppliers, and related local businesses are counted. Unlike an annual crop, a mature orchard is long-term food-producing infrastructure. If the trees die, the loss is measured in years, not a single season — and the economic damage radiates through the entire regional economy. 

BCFGA's central concern is a lack of coordination. Growers have repeatedly raised that decisions affecting the survival of their farms are being made without a shared plan, without clear timelines, and without a single point of accountability. Practical measures that could reduce the damage have moved too slowly. Vernon's own reclaimed water source, which could provide a reliable irrigation supply to the Goose Lake and Bella Vista service areas, has not been connected. Options to recommission existing water sources and support emergency wells remain unresolved. Growers are being asked to accept shut-offs while the mitigation measures that could soften the blow sit unfinished. 

“The hardest part for growers is that this feels like it is being done to them, not with them,” said Adrian Arts, BCFGA executive director. “Decisions of this magnitude cannot be handed down and enforced without a coordinated plan behind them. Before the water is shut off, growers need to know what mitigation is actually being delivered, and regional district needs to be at the table with the province working through every available option. That coordination should have happened before the taps were turned off.” 

BCFGA is calling on Greater Vernon Water and the Regional District of North Okanagan to convene an urgent, coordinated agricultural water session with growers and the relevant provincial ministries, to bring forward a clear plan and timeline for the mitigation options still on the table, and to be transparent with affected farmers about what water will be available and when. The decisions being made in Greater Vernon will determine whether a significant part of the region's tree fruit industry survives this season. 

Growers remain willing partners. They have invested in efficient irrigation and have consistently offered to work constructively with every level of government. What they need now is a coordinated plan – not shut-off notices delivered in isolation. 

Source: BC Fruit Growers’ Association July 23, 2026 news release