Mayors from nearly every Okanagan municipality pledged their commitment to sustainable water use and urged residents to do the same this week.

The mayors joined students from 脡cole Glenmore Elementary at the kick-off event Thursday for Make Water Work, an annual campaign from the Okanagan Basin Water Board to encourage water conservation.

琉璃神社 Mayor Colin Basran made his pledge is to be more responsible when watering his garden and lawn.

鈥淲e are becoming more and more urban,鈥� said Basran. 鈥淭hat means it鈥檚 more important than ever that we make sure that the plants and our lawn get watered and not the pavement.鈥�

The campaign, being in its ninth year, is an annual competition between Okanagan municipalities, one which 琉璃神社 has never won.

鈥淢y challenge is for the residents of 琉璃神社 to take this seriously because it is a big deal,鈥� said Basran.

The mayor urges the public to make sure 鈥渨e are preserving water and making sure there is an abundant supply for not only tomorrow, but for many years to come.鈥�

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The theme of this year鈥檚 campaign is to practice water sustainability in gardens, adopting the floral ideas provided by the 鈥淢ake Water Work in your yard鈥� plant collection.

The collection is comprised of plants whose biological attributes allow them to survive in drought conditions.

The Glenmore students created their own school garden using the Make Water Work plant options as their guide.

鈥淭he Hardy Ice Plant can get as high as three inches and spreads to about 20 (inches) and needs full sun and one drop (of water),鈥� said Grade 5 student Maddie Boback.

Fellow student Cayla Kennedy explained how 鈥渢he Cushion Spurge鈥檚 height is 14 inches, it spreads up to 18 inches and in the full sun takes two water drops and in part sun, one water drop.鈥�

Classmate Charley Dowhaniuk cited the Rose Glow Barberry 鈥渟lowly reaches four feet wide and five feet high, is best in full sun and part shade and grows in any soil and needs to be watered regularly weekly, or more often in extreme heat.鈥�

These are just three plants on the thorough and extensive list that can be found on the website.

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鈥淲e learned about why you want to use waterized plants to use less water,鈥� said Connor Brasnett, a Grade 5 student in charge of building the wooden structure of the gardens. 鈥淚t was really cool and fun because we didn鈥檛 have to do school work.鈥�

The school garden project had the support of many stakeholders to help the students along the way.

鈥淚鈥檝e been working with my colleague, Lisa Marques, to teach our students about how we can use water more wisely in the Okanagan,鈥� said Katie Wihak, a Grade 5 French immersion teacher.

鈥�(The students) were definitely really excited to work together, to use their hands and to see something come to fruition.鈥�

鈥淲e鈥檝e been able to do this because of our administrators and the parents who came and helped as well as reaching out to the community and having their support,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 really a group effort.鈥�

Although the event is over, that isn鈥檛 stopping Glenmore from continuing on the track they鈥檝e begun.

鈥淥ur goal is to turn this space into an outdoor learning centre,鈥� explained Wihak. 鈥淓ventually we want to build a pergola so there will be some shade for the students and we can work and play outside.鈥�

The OBWB says nearly a quarter of all water used in the Okanagan is doused on household lawns and gardens.

The valley is already at a disadvantage by having less water per person than anywhere else in Canada, despite having one of the highest usage rates per person.