Recommendations target floods in B.C.’s Thompson Okanagan

Report says appropriate measures were taken to manage water levels on Interior lakes

VICTORIA — An independent review of flooding in British Columbia last spring has found ministry staff took appropriate measures to manage water levels on three southern Interior lakes.

The review was ordered by the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations to determine the effectiveness of its flood response and to see what could have been done differently to reduce damage.

It concludes a wetter-than-average spring combined with extremely heavy snowpacks that built up over the fall and winter, were the main causes of the severe flooding in the Thompson Okanagan.

Record high water flows into Okanagan and Nicola Lakes, as well as above-average flows into Kalamalka Lake, caused widespread flooding that forced more than 2,500 people from their homes, and threatened thousands more with evacuation alerts.

The report by Associated Environmental Consultants Inc., takes the effects of climate change into account and makes 65 recommendations regarding staffing levels, experience and training, as well as streamflow forecasting.

A news release from the ministry says it has already started implementing some of the recommendations and is developing a plan to address the remaining findings.