David Dendy’s The Story of the Grey Canal: Water and the Making of the North Okanagan provides an indispensable historical geography and engineering study of the monumental irrigation network that transformed the arid benches surrounding Vernon. Dendy traces the construction of the fifty-kilometer gravity-fed ditch, flume, and siphon system between 1906 and 1914, which diverted water from Duteau Creek in the Monashee highlands to irrigate thousands of acres of semi-arid bunchgrass country. The work illustrates how access to controlled water engineered the transition from extensive cattle rangeland into productive, high-density fruit orchards across Coldstream, Vernon, Spallumcheen, Lavington, and the hills overlooking Okanagan Landing. Richly documented with construction blueprints and archival photographs, the book captures the critical role of corporate hydraulic engineering in shaping the regional landscape.

British Columbia Coldstream, British Columbia North Okanagan, British Columbia Vernon, Canals British Columbia North Okanagan History, City of Vernon, District of Coldstream, District of Spallumcheen, Flumes British Columbia History, Grey Canal (B.C.) History, History, Irrigation British Columbia North Okanagan History, Lavington (B.C.), Okanagan L

Includes bibliographical references, maps, and engineering profile diagrams.

Includes bibliographical references, maps, and engineering profile diagrams.