Okanagan officials are carefully monitoring lake levels across the region as we enter into a second year of drought conditions.
Water levels in Okanagan Lake are still rising, but not expected to reach full pool this season.
“We are about 31 cm away from our target level. I don’t believe that we will reach our target level, that people commonly known as full pool, which is 342.48 metres above sea level,” said Penticton’s dam manager Shaun Reimer.
“Better, we could be a lot better. And of course, if we go into the winter with a lower Lake, then we’ll have concerns about next year.”
According to Reimer with the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, this is because the snow melt has almost finished.
And although the Okanagan has seen more rain over the last few weeks, it is still not enough to have a significant impact on lake levels.
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“We would need a lot of rain at this point to bring us up there and I’m not seeing that at least in the short-term forecast,” said Reimer.
If Okanagan Lake does not meet full pool, the immediate impact would be felt along the Okanagan River.
“We’ll have lower outflows and that may impact potentially irrigators and even fish returns. I think we’re OK for this year,” said Reimer.
“But where you might see some complaints from some of the tubers in the Okanagan River channel here.”
Officials add that as we head into a second year of a drought, it is important to conserve water.
“Having an OK water supply is really specific to … Okanagan Lake. When you think about people who are drawing water or relying on some of the tributary sources and things like that, again, it is very important everywhere on this year,” said Reimer.
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