Record water levels in Okanagan Lake have prompted the City of Penticton to roll out flood mitigations around the city, and it has announced it will work closely with the regional district and the province to minimize risks, especially around the lake front.
Water poured into the parking lot and patio of the yacht clubhouse on Friday, forcing a scramble to sandbag. A bladder dam has taken care of the flow at the marina for now, but there are other concerns.
“The breakwall is breached in some spots but for the most part it’s holding up,” Gary Stene, manager of the marina, said. “If we had a big north wind or something that could be trouble for sure, and we get those all the time. It’s only a matter of when, really.”
Stene said that though he thinks the dams could withstand a rise of around a foot, any more might cause water to come up through their floors.
The tenuous situation has been hard on employees.
“It’s been a little stressful, not knowing whether the water was going to come up to a level where we wouldn’t be able to work,” Aaron Flynn, the clubhouse chef, said. “We’re still not out of danger yet.”
The snowpack in surrounding mountains is still high, and heat in the forecast could accelerate the melt. Water levels in the marina are already at the point where boat launches are being closed, and docks are riding almost as high as their moorings.
“When you see it with your own eyes, coming up, creeping up every day, you worry that it could affect your daily life,” Flynn said.
Despite the flood threat, the clubhouse’s opening day is going ahead as planned.
“Everybody’s ready to go, we just want to get things going, keep people happy,” Stene said.
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