Spring flooding the top story of 2017
Editor’s note: At last, we’ve arrived at the top story of 2017, as decided by staff at The Herald. Penticton Herald Staff
Whether you described it as flooding, high water levels or time to build an ark, there was no denying an overflowing Okanagan Lake had a major impact on residents this spring and summer — and much of the damage has yet to be repaired.
The lake surface topped out on June 8 at 343.27 metres above sea level — well above the previous high-water record of 343.05 m set in 1948 and the normal target level of 342.48 m.
That unprecedented rise — attributed to an unprecedented period of precipitation in the spring — left officials unable to release water fast enough from the dam at Penticton to keep pace with inflows.
Shaun Reimer, who manages the lake level on behalf of the B.C. Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, said in early May, the dam was discharging water at rate of approximately 70 cubic metres per second — 10 cubic metres per second above its design maximum.
“This week so far, we’ve had 38 centimetres of water on the lake come in. The previous week was 36. I’ve never seen that before in my life — a real testament to the water that’s coming in,” said Reimer.
The result was the deployment of tens of thousands of sandbags around the region to protect public infrastructure and private property.
The situation was so dire that the BC Wildfire Service sent in crews to help with sandbagging efforts, and a 300-metre section of portable dam was set up between the SS Sicamous and the dam to protect low-lying areas behind it.
The SS Sicamous was also impacted when it began to float — for the first time since 1990 — damaging utility connections and rendering its emergency staircase unusable, prompting officials to build a makeshift escape route.
Another icon on the Penticton waterfront, the Kiwanis Walking Pier, was more heavily damaged and remains out of commission, pending a third-party inspection.
City engineer Ian Chapman told council in October that preliminary inspections had revealed severe damage to support beams that hold up the deck and damage to pilings that hold up the beams.
“Unfortunately, a lot of these pilings have rotted over the years. It’s not necessarily directly attributable to the storm damage, however, (the storm) has clearly accelerated the structural damage because of the movement of the whole structure crashing up and down,” explained Chapman.
At the time, the bill to repair the damage to city-owned property was estimated at $600,000 — although it has now more than doubled — and included repaving an entire parking lot near the Penticton Yacht Club that was undermined by groundwater.
The club was spared due to the efforts of school kids and members who volunteered for sandbag brigades, and an emergency rebuild of the breakwater surrounding the marina.
Residents of low-lying communities like Trout Creek and Red Wing, and those along the Okanagan River to the south, also eyed rising water warily, although most escaped with just flooded basements, yards and orchards.
Tourism operators were affected, too, as news reports began circulating about the Okanagan being underwater, forcing them to launch an open-for-business advertising campaign. Part of that campaign was avoiding use of the F word.
“It’s really important that we frame the conversations around the words ‘high water levels,’” Travel Penticton chairwoman Barb Haynes said in June.
“Penticton is not flooding. The challenge for us is counteracting negative publicity.”
When the emergency had passed, officials then began turning their attention to disposing of the sandbags.
Trademark Industries was awarded a $250,000 contract for the work in areas under jurisdiction of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen, while Sun-Oak Construction won a similar deal from the City of Penticton, estimated to be worth $207,000.
It was controversial, because city Coun. Max Picton owns a 25 per cent stake in Sun-Oak.
Sensing the potential for trouble, the city hired an outside lawyer to verify the contract was awarded properly and then released the opinion to the media.
Picton made no apologies for going after the job.
“Obviously I know that the rumour mill’s going to start flying out there,” he said in July, “but this is the type of work that my company does, that we seek, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t apply for something like this.”