Mill Creek tree cull sparks complaints

City of Kelowna official says removal of some trees along creek necessary to restore capacity, prevent flooding

The flow of Mission Creek has been declining steadily after spiking during a one-day heat wave.

When the temperature hit 27 C last Friday, the flow of the creek jumped to almost 40 cubic metres per second early Saturday.

However, with temperatures falling back more than 10 degrees on the weekend, the flow of the creek also diminished, to about 27 cubic metres per second on Monday.

Localized flooding along sections of the creek typically becomes a concern when flows reach 60 cubic metres per second. Flows are likely to rise again as the weather forecast calls for temperatures in the low and mid-20s through the weekend.

Meanwhile, the amount of vegetation removed from Mill Creek to increase the channel’s drainage capacity has sparked some complaints to Kelowna City Hall.

Many large trees in and along the winding, narrow creek have been cut down between Parkinson Recreation Centre and Okanagan Lake.

It’s the most significant removal of vegetation from the waterway in years, as the provincial government has refused to allow such work in the recent past, says Alan Newcombe, a divisional director with the City of Kelowna.

“There hasn’t been any (vegetation removal) work like this done in Mill Creek for decades,” Newcombe said. “It’s not something we would have wanted to do if some other option had been available, but we needed to reestablish the carrying capacity of the creek.

“The provincial government is protective of the natural environment, as are we,” he said. “But in the interest of the overall public good, this work had to be done.”

Widespread flooding along the Mill Creek corridor last spring damaged many properties, Newcombe noted, a situation nobody wants to see repeated this year.

By some estimates, he said, the creek had lost as much as twothirds of its carrying capacity because of overgrown vegetation and the resulting buildup of sediment in the waterway.

The city has had some complaints since the flood mitigation work began last month, Newcombe said, “but I think most people understand what we’re doing and the reason for it.”

While he’s grateful for work done by city crews to sandbag sections of the creek and add other flood protection devices, Lindahl Street resident Kelly Hassoli wonders if all the vegetation removal was really necessary.

“It might be a waste of time and money,” Hassoli said as he watched the level of the creek with fellow residents of a residential building called the Creekside.

“You can see a lot of the stumps, and the other stuff they cut down, have just been left here, and that could cause the sediment to just build up again,” Hassoli said.