By Sebastian Kanally, Times Chronicle
Oliver has chosen Monday April 7, 2025 for its annual canal diversion start date.
The process to begin diverting water from the Okanagan River will begin on April 7, and typically takes around four days for the crew to properly fill and assess the system.
This means that the start date for irrigation season is set for Monday April 14, exactly one week after the diversion begins.
The town will take a week to fill the canal and prepare the pump houses prior to the irrigation turn-on.
Kelly Mercer, Director of Operations with the town explained in his report that “the canal usually takes approximately four days for the crew to properly follow, fill, and do checks in different sections of the canal system and start service turn-ons.
Spray fill water locations will be turned on a couple weeks ahead of the season, depending on weather, for those who need water earlier then the set dates.
The dates vary slightly year to year but typically fall within the first week or two of April.
Diversion and Irrigation start up dates for the past five years are as follows:
- 2020 – April 6 and April 14.
- 2021 – April 5 and April 9.
- 2022 – April 5 and April 11.
- 2023 – April 4 and April 11.
- 2024 – April 8 and April 15.
The video, a project of the Oliver & District Heritage Society chronicling the construction of the irrigation canal can be viewed below.
