Ha Ha Ha Kidzfest needs a few more buddies
Due to light snowpack and potential for drought, operators are maintaining high levels in two lakes that are key to the Okanagan water system.
Okanagan Lake’s level is managed by a dam in Penticton, from which water flows south through the Okanagan River and eventually into Osoyoos Lake, which straddles the Canada-U.S. border.
Osoyoos Lake is controlled by the Zosel Dam on the U.S. side and managed by the International Joint Commission, which was created by treaty in 1909, and is meant to head off disputes between the two countries regarding cross-border water bodies, including the Great Lakes.
The IJC announced earlier this month it’s keeping Osoyoos Lake at the maximum level – 277.92 metres above sea level – seen at this time of year.
“Upstream of Osoyoos Lake, Okanagan Lake is also at a higher-than-normal elevation,” states the April 15 bulletin.
“Discharge from both Okanagan
Lake and Osoyoos Lake is typically increased in late winter to prepare for the inflow from melting snowpack. However, due to the low snowpack observed across British Columbia this winter, lake managers have decided to counteract the potential impacts of a low run-off year by holding more water than usual in the lakes.”
Okanagan Lake’s surface was hovering around 341.73 m above sea level as of Monday afternoon – well below full pool of 342.48 m.
As of April 1, snowpack in the Okanagan basin was 73% of normal and 62% of normal in the Similkameen, according to the B.C. River Forecast Centre. The average snowpack across all 34 of B.C.’s water basins was 63% of normal.
Drought conditions were present in 31 of 34 basins as of November 2023, when the province issued its final update for the year. New data is expected later this spring.