The Okanagan Valley is an important bird migration route and many rare birds may be seen here in migration season as evidenced in the eBird records. Unusually high numbers of nighthawk have been observed at that time. The site is important for Lewis’ Woodpecker, Yellow-breasted Chat, Bobolink and Lark Sparrow. 

The Okanagan Flood Control Channel passes through the South Okanagan Wildlife Management Area (WMA).  The WMA is made up of a core area with grasslands dissected by numerous old in-filled oxbows in different successional stages. Oxbow lakes formed by the former floodplain of the Okanagan River became isolated by construction of the Okanagan River Flood Control Channel but later filled with water abd reconnected by a weir constructed by Ducks Unlimited Canada. 

The South Okanagan is dominated by hot, dry summers, and habitats in this area are comprised of sandy glacial outwash deposits and dry benchlands, with globally imperiled antelope-brush, riparian woodlands, marshes and ponds.

The WMA is important for Behr’s Hairstreak Butterfly, Gopher Snake, Racer, Painted Turtle, Spotted and Pallid Bats, Fringed Myotis and Nuttall’s Cottontail. It is one of the few places in the Okanagan River system where Sockeye Salmon still spawn. For many invertebrates, this area is their only known locality within Canada.