City opening more beaches
Kelowna is opening more beaches and boat launches just in time for a hot and sunny weekend.
The north end of the beach at City Park is open for beachgoers, along with Tugboat Beach at Waterfront Park, Boyce-Gyro Beach Park, Sarsons Beach Park, Cedar Creek Park and Paul's Tomb and Lochview Trail, the city said in a news release on Friday.
The Cook Road, Water Street and CedarCreek boat launches are also partially or fully open.
The City Park children's water park is still closed, but water parks are open at Ben Lee Park and Quilchena park.
Lake Country's Coral Beach boat launch has also reopened.
The municipality says on its website the Okanagan Lake level has dropped enough that the dock at Coral Beach can be seen again.
Boaters are reminded the lake level is still high and they should keep their speeds down near the shore.
Vernon's Paddlewheel Park boat launch remains closed. The Regional District of North Okanagan says the lake level is still too high to conduct the annual inspection needed to ensure structural integrity of the docks.
Central Okanagan Emergency Operations reported Friday morning the Okanagan Lake level dropped 1.3 centimetres in the previous 24 hours and was at 342.914 metres above sea level which is 43 centimetres over full pool.
Kalamalka Lake decreased 1.3 centimetres and was at 392.14 metres, 44 centimetres above full pool.
Emergency crews continue to dismantle flood protection equipment from waterfront areas of Kelowna, Peachland and West Kelowna.
Residents with sandbags that are no longer necessary can take them to the roadside of their property, where work crews will be travelling through neighbourhoods to collect them.
In Lake Country, BC Wildfire Crew contractors will be removing sandbag defences from the Bottom Wood Lake Road, Turtle Bay and Woodsdale areas, while in West Kelowna, flood protection and sandbags will be cleared from the Okanagan Lake waterfront in the Casa Loma and Pritchard areas.
Crews will also continue removing flood protection on public lands in low risk flood areas along the waterfront in Kelowna and Peachland.