Lake levels rising toward capacity

Logs and other natural debris washed onto the shore of Valley lakes should be left where they are rather than removed from the waterfront, local officials say.

Lakes are nearing capacity and the debris helps blunt the force of wind-whipped waves that would otherwise erode sandy beaches.

“Please leave any debris along lakeshores on Kalamalka Lake in place until the risk of flood has passed. The debris acts like a cushion to waves in the event of an onshore wind, and reduces sand erosion,” the town of Coldstream said in a Wednesday release.

Currently, Okanagan Lake is at an elevation of 342.42 metres above sea level.

That’s just five centimetres below the lake’s so-called ‘full pool’ capacity, but still almost 90 centimetres behind the lake’s peak level, reached in both 1948 and 2017, both of which years saw widespread shoreline flooding.

Generally, Okanagan Lake rises to its highest level in late May or early July.

The flow in Mission Creek, which carries about 30 per cent of all water that drains into Okanagan Lake, has dropped from 60 cubic metres a second on early Tuesday to 42 cubic metres per second on Wednesday, well below the range of 80-90 cubic metres per second when the creek can over-top its banks.

At this time of year, localized flooding is less likely to occur as a result of mountain snowmelt than from intense periods of heavy rain. Some forecasts call for highs of 29 C on Thursday and Friday before falling back to the low 20s early next week, with cooler and wetter conditions after June 7.