Peachland bladder dams recovered from lake

A flood barrier system that was pulled into Okanagan Lake as it was being installed Thursday morning in Peachland has been recovered.

Central Okanagan firefighters assisted in pulling about 100 metres of Tiger Dam from the water.

“It was filled with water so it was floating. It was actually still protecting the beach a little bit,” Joe Mitchell, Director of Operations, District of Peachland

High wind pushed waves over the top of the lakeside walkway in Peachland, causing the dam to fail as it was being set up.

“We’ll reinstall it tomorrow. We’ll make sure that all the bladders are puncture free and then we’ll fill them up and do the same thing again, just a little bit further in towards the road,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell asks that the dam be left alone once it’s in place along the 1.7 km stretch of Peachland downtown lakeshore.

“If they can stay away from these Tiger dams, not walk on them, not get too close to them,” said Mitchell. “They are just large bladders and they will pop. We’re just trying to keep people as far away as we can.”