Dredging underway as shifting sand clogs Kelowna boat launch

KELOWNA – It’s a battle against the natural forces of nature as a giant beach-front sculpting job is underway in Kelowna.

The city is trying to restore the Cook Street boat launch on Okanagan lake which has become inundated with sand.

The build-up has lifted one of the docks out of the water and it’s difficult for people to launch boats in the shallow water.

The city is paying an Alberta contractor about $60,000 to use a sediment vacuum to remove the sand from the lake.

It’s likely being washed down nearby Mission Creek where it builds up at the creek mouth before prevailing wave action pushes the material north along the shoreline.

“We’ve been tracking this for a number of years as there’s been a slow progression,” says project manager Terry Barton. “But in the last year, specifically this past winter, there’s been an enormous amount of movement of sand right in and around the Cook Street boat launch and so the city has needed to take action.”

Much of the material will be trucked to the south end of nearby Rotary Beach which been impacted by erosion in recent years.

“It’s great that we found a good use for the sand. And we’re trying to mimic the natural processes in the area by putting the sand further up to where it would naturally occur,” says Barton.

The city will hire an engineering consulting firm to hopefully come up with a more permanent solution than periodic dredging to the challenges of the shifting sands.