Paying for Rain: A History of the South East Kelowna Irrigation District 0969369107, 9780969369103

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A HISTORY OF THE SOUTH EAST

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by

JAY RUZESKY & TOM CARTER

Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2022 with funding from Kahle/Austin Foundation

https://archive.org/details/payingforrainhisOO0Oruze

PAYING FOR RAIN: A HISTORY OF THE SOUTH EAST KELOWNA IRRIGATION DISTRICT

by Jay Ruzesky

and Tom Carter

South East Kelowna Irrigation District

1990

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Copyright © 1990 by the South East Kelowna Irrigation District No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system without written permission from the publisher, except for brief passages quoted in review.

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Ruzesky, Jay, 1965 Paying for rain Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-9693691-0-7

1. South East Kelowna Irrigation District (B.C.) — History. 2. Kelowna Region (B.C.) —

History. 3. Irrigation — British Columbia — Kelowna Region — History. I. Carter, Tom, 1905 II. South East Kelowna Irrigation District (B.C.)

Ill. Title. FC3845.K44R89 1990 F1089.K5R89 1990

971.1°5

C90-091433-5

Orders and inquiries to the South East Kelowna Irrigation District, Box 64, East Kelowna, B.C. VOH 1G0

Phone: (604) 861-4200 « Fax: 861-4213

Printed in Canada by Vernon Interior Printers

Printed on 100% Recycled Paper

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“Intelligent men no longer pray for rain — they pay for it.” — from the program of the sixth annual convention of the Wester Canada Irrigation Association, Kelowna, 1912.

“_.. the agricultural industry is worth maintaining. Despite a history of plans and expectations not realized, and despite the many unsatisfactory conditions, there is in my opinion an agricultural proposition in this territory that can be made worth while from the point of view of provincial and national policy and reasonably remunerative to those adapted to the work of irrigation farming.” —

from Sanford Evans, Report of the Royal Commission Investigating the Fruit Industry, 1930.

FOREWORD

Paying For Rain is about the greening of the Okanagan Valley as irrigated horticulture replaced cattle ranching and grain growing. It is a case study pointing out patterns, simplifying relationships and clarifying circumstances. In the first few years after 1900, the Okanagan region was one of many western North America agricultural hearths that was experiencing dramatic change. Transportation links were fast improving, bringing markets and suppliers closer; development capital was readily available and easily transferred between regions and across seas; emmigration to the colonies was an acceptable alternative to a tenuous inheritance and diminishing employment prospects for the middle class in Great Britain. Seizing the combined potential of these circumstances, pioneer developers like Ted Carruthers, Bob Pooley and T. W. Stirling struggled to overcome the one element in their path — water. For subsequent generations — for managers like Tom Carter — the task was more one of consolidation and stabilization in the face of new technologies, more stringent water regulation, and growing demands on a limited and valuable resource. The current and future managers will be challenged by increasingly complex issues that combine technical, social and financial aspects of water management. Over the years irrigation hardware has become less visible on the Okanagan landscape. (Indeed, all we see today are sprinklers). Paying For Rain puts all that hardware back in place, and puts much needed perspective on the genesis of this distinctive landscape we love. — Wayne Wilson British Columbia Orchard Industry Museum, Kelowna May, 1990

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