Creek remains a concern
Nothing more than a keen set of ears is required for Prith Sekhon to know something unusual is happening this spring in Testalinden Creek.
“You can tell there’s a lot of water here, because it’s at least two or three times louder,” he said Sunday outside his parents’ home six kilometres south of Oliver and only about 20 metres from Testalinden Creek.
It’s normal for the creek to become muddy and pick up speed in the spring, he said, but the volume of water this year is unlike anything he’s seen before.
As a result, the creek last week spilled over into his parents’ orchard, dumping silt and rocks around 50 apple trees, which will have to be replaced because the newly deposited material forms a sort of clay that does not allow water to reach plant roots below.
The waterway has since been widened and lined with large boulders by the Regional District of OkanaganSimilkameen, which on Friday issued an evacuation alert for the Sekhons’ and 14 other properties along a two-kilometre stretch of Testalinden Creek.
Sekhon said his parents are more worried about their crops than themselves, and are also frustrated because it’s not the first time the creek has breached its banks.
RDOS emergency services supervisor Dale Kronebusch said his mandate in the past was simply to keep the creek within its banks, so little more than dredging was required.
This spring, however, the large volume of run-off dictated more drastic measures.
As a result, the B.C. government has also hired four excavators that have been working around the clock to continuously dredge the creek and fish out debris, plus clear a sediment pond where the creek empties into the Okanagan River.
The evacuation alert was issued because the creek has been eating into the sidewalls of a canyon above and it’s feared that debris could slough off and tear down the hillside.
Kronebusch advised those living near Testalinden Creek to be on the lookout for sudden changes in water colour, flow or debris volume, which could indicate trouble above.
Such was the case in 2010, when a dam breached and triggered a massive debris flow that destroyed five properties. Then, in 2015, the hills around the creek were scorched by a wildfire.
Kronebusch said he’s received reports of debris from that fire now washing down Testalinden and other creeks in the Cawston area.
He cautioned that this period of heightened alert is expect to last until mid-June, when the spring freshet usually quiets down.
Elsewhere in the RDOS, the Chute Lake and Glenfir road neighbourhoods north of Naramata remain an area of concern, while the Penticton Yacht Club building on Marina Way, which was surrounded with sandbags last week to protect it from Okanagan Lake, has so far remained dry.
Meanwhile, the one-in-200 year flood predicted last week by officials in Kelowna failed to materialize. Still, about 400 people in the greater Kelowna area remained evacuated as of Sunday.
“Our biggest concern at this moment is that Okanagan Lake continues to rise above full pool, a situation we continue to monitor,” said Mayor Colin Basran.