Kelowna’s Mission Creek to undergo major transformation

KELOWNA – It’s considered one of Kelowna’s jewels, Mission Creek. The waterway, however, isn’t as healthy as it should be. It was channelized for flood control back in the 1930’s so the creek doesn’t meander its course as it naturally would. Now ambitious plans are underway to bring it back to its more original and natural state

“Once upon a time the river used to go back and forth in a lazy pattern and it was about three times as long as it is today, “ says city councillor Luke Stack.

The plans involve 800 metres of Mission Creek between the Casorso Road and Gordon Drive bridges. It entails pulling back dikes and creating a wider waterway with a more natural flow. The city has already made a deal with a property owner to buy four acres of land to make it happen.

“In this location it was quite wide, almost twice as wide what it currently is now, “ says the City of Kelowna’s Manager of Subdivision, Agriculture and Environment Todd Cashin. “It meandered back and forth and there are some old oxbows in that section, some old wetlands and we would like to over time connect those.”

Benefits of a more natural creek include water quality improvement, the creation of more wetlands, which have been disappearing over time, and better habitat for fish and species at risk. Flooding prevention is another reason.

“We have seen a lot of flood events come down Mission Creek recently and trying to create more capacity in the channel is really important to providing flood prevention,” says Cashin.

If the pilot project is successful, the city hopes to tackle more sections along the creek in the future.

“We have to be realistic obviously there is land that can no longer be returned to the river,” says Cashin. “I mean the Superstore, the river once flowed through there so obviously we won’t do river restoration project through the Superstore parking lot but there are areas below East Kelowna Road we think are good candidates for river restoration.”

The City is now waiting for approval from the Agriculture land commission to move the dikes. If approved, it’s hoped the creek restoration work will be completed sometime next year.