HUMAN USE OF NATURAL RESOURCES IN THE SOUTH OKANAGAN AND LOWER SIMILKAMEEN VALLEYS

Richard J. Cannings and Eva Durance

DEMOGRAPHIC AND POPULATION TRENDS

By 1941, the total native and non-native population had reached 50,000 of which about 20,000 was in the subject area (Charting a Course... p. 31, Figure 10). By 1966, the population was just over 36,000, and by 1993 had almost doubled to 66,000.("Population Profile: 1993" Okanagan Facts and Statistics #2, p.7- 8).

By 1966, the population of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS), which includes the study area plus the Similkameen Valley west to Princeton, was itself just over 36,000; this number had almost doubled by 1993 (Table X).("Population Profile: 1993" Okanagan Facts and Statistics #2, p.7- 8)

The average growth in the RDOS from 1966 to 1993 was 2.5% per year with the Okanagan portion higher than the Similkameen. Population growth has been much higher in urban than in rural areas. In 1966, 4.2% of the population was in municipalities; by 1993 this proportion had grown to 71.5% ("Population Profile: 1993", p. 9). For example, from 1986 to 1996 alone, the population of Penticton increased from 23,588 to 30,987 and Summerland from 7,755 to 10,584. This trend towards concentration in urban areas is projected to continue. By 1996, the population of the study area was estimated to be 73,615, of which XX% was in Penticton, Summerland, Osoyoos, and Oliver, and the average annual increase for the area was 3%.