The City of Kelowna is hitting back after being publicly accused of not applying for millions of dollars in grant money to help area water purveyors fix their systems.

According to city hall, a South East Kelowna Irrigation District (SEKID) spokesman, interiewed on radio last week, was wrong when he said there were 含羞草研究社渢ens of millions of dollars含羞草研究社� in grants available that the city could have applied for on behalf of the water districts to help fund projects in the Kelowna Integrated Water Supply Plan (KIWSP).

The city didn含羞草研究社檛, it was claimed, because Kelowna wants to fold their operations into one integrated water system run by the city.

含羞草研究社淚n fact, improvement grant funds have been on hold until a provincially mandated independent review of the KIWSP is done,含羞草研究社� said the city in a news release issued Thursday.

含羞草研究社淎ll water providers have known this since 2012, but have failed to agree to the terms of reference for the study to proceed.含羞草研究社�

Because of that, the province has appointed two mediators to try and bring the city and the four water purveyors who operate independent water systems in various parts of the city, together.

One of the mediators is former Shuswap MLA and provincial cabinet minister George Abbott.

The purveyors include SEKID, the Glenmore-Ellison Irrigation District, The Black Mountain Irrigation District and Rutland Waterworks.

All are separate, independent bodies with their own powers to operate and levy rates on property owners in their areas to pay for their water systems.

The city also operates its own, separate water utility.

含羞草研究社淭here was one grant program available, the Strategic Priorities Fund, and the city did apply for water project funds on behalf of the Kelowna Joint Water Committee under this program, but was unsuccessful,含羞草研究社� said the city in its news release.

Without grants, property owners in each of the individual irrigation districts have had to fund the ongoing projects through the rates they pay and that has meant  rate increases.

The SEKID spokesman is quoted as saying: 含羞草研究社淭he city wants to turn this into a governance review含羞草研究社�.But we don含羞草研究社檛 feel it is appropriate because this is a technical report and there含羞草研究社檚 nothing about governance in it.含羞草研究社�

The city is also taking issue with SEKID含羞草研究社檚 contention that the governance review will take years to complete and will slow things down.

含羞草研究社淭hese statements are not correct,含羞草研究社� said the rebuttal from the city.

含羞草研究社淪ection 6 of the Kelowna Integrated Water Supply Plan is all about governance.

含羞草研究社淭his 16-page section on governance is an important part of the KIWSP and the City of Kelowna refuses to have it excluded from the the Value Engineering Analysis.含羞草研究社�

The city contends the plan needs to be considered in its entirety,  saying sections can含羞草研究社檛 be discounted or removed from the review simply because they might be of concern to the irrigation districts.

The escalating fight over water jurisdiction in the city stems from council含羞草研究社檚 desire to see one integrated water system serving the entire city, a system Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran feels would be safer, cheaper and serve all Kelowna residents in a more cost-effective way.

After on-going backroom attempts to negotiate some sort of change fell short, Basran went public with council含羞草研究社檚 desire for a single water utility in the city earlier this month during his state of the city address to the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce.

In its response to the water purveyors含羞草研究社� public reaction to the mayor含羞草研究社檚 comments, city hall says the fact that irrigation districts are choosing to ignore section 6 of the KIWSP suggests governance is, in fact, the obstacle to implementing the province含羞草研究社檚 requirement for the best lowest-cost solution to Kelowna含羞草研究社檚 water challenges.

含羞草研究社淭he City of Kelowna believes these challenges cannot be addressed under the century-old system of separate and independent utilities. We believe an integrated system is the best investment for Kelowna and that含羞草研究社檚 why a governance review is important. We need to look at solutions without the limitations of district boundaries.含羞草研究社�

The city says it wants to work with the province to develop a long-term plan for an integrated system that will deliver clean drinking water to all residents at equitable rates, along with a sustainable water supply and rates for agriculture.

In his recent State of the City address to the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce, Basran claimed tens of thousands of city residents are under frequent or nearly constant water quality advisories while 70 per cent of residents surveyed say water quality improvement tops their list of priorities for investment.

The mayor added while the city has continually improved its own water system without the funding from senior levels of government, he feels one interconnected system throughout the entire city would ensure not only consistent water quality, but also adequate supply.