A local team of designers, artists and researchers wants to know what water means to you.

The team, which consists of representatives from the Kelowna Museums Society, the Okanagan Nation Alliance, Scnewips Heritage Museum, and the University of British Columbia, is organizing an exhibition called The Social Life of Water in the Okanagan Valley.

They are inviting the public to tell them about their relationship with Okanagan waters using a short, online survey available at http://bit.ly/1q0dRYq.

The exhibition will use a variety of media to explore the diverse meanings that water holds for the many communities, cultures and interest groups that have lived in the Okanagan Valley throughout time. In addition to the past and present, the exhibition will examine our relationship with water in the future, and invite participants to imagine how a sustainable water future might look.

“Water is the lifeblood that allows our communities to live and thrive,” said Christine Mettler, the project’s coordinator.

“And everyone has a connection with water—whether it’s watching the birds in the marshes, hiking to the majestic waterfalls in the uplands, or swimming in the lakes. Water is where life happens, and where memories are made.”

However, despite our connection to and reliance on water, it’s easy to take it for granted. A phenomenon called “shifting baselines syndrome” means that as our society changes, it’s easy to take the present state of our watershed as “normal.”

“Although many don’t realize it, we have changed our Okanagan watershed quite a bit over time,” said Kathy Holland, Library/Research Coordinator with the Okanagan Nation Alliance.

“Syilx elders have said ‘Understanding the living land and teaching how to be part of that is the only way we can survive.’”

With the help of traditional, scientific, and other local knowledge, the exhibition will invite visitors to reflect on how land and waters in the Okanagan have changed, but also how our community celebrates our relationship with water—our most precious resource.

The Social Life of Water in the Okanagan Valley will be held at the Okanagan Heritage Museum and will open to the public in Fall 2016.

The project is funded by the Central Okanagan Foundation, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the Okanagan Basin Water Board.