Looking to head to the beach in the central Okanagan this long weekend? Good news – several waterfront parks and beaches that have been closed for nearly a month are now reopen.
Flooding forced several beaches and waterfront parks throughout the valley to close. Lakes throughout the Okanagan are now receding and the flood risk appears to be under control, so flood prevention measures like bladder dams and gabion baskets are slowly being taken down and waterfront areas are reopening.
Parts of City Park and Tugboat Bay in Kelowna are reopening for the long weekend. Emergency operations are assessing the areas throughout the day Thursday and deciding what portions are safe enough to reopen.
The following parks are also reopen:
- Traders Cove Regional Park
- Kalamoir Regional Park
- Raymer Bay Regional Park
- Kaloya Regional Park
- Reiswig Regional Park
- Gellatly Nut Farm Regional Park
- Bertram Creek Regional Park
Even though the beach areas are now open, don’t expect them to be pristine warns the Regional District of Central Okanagan (RDCO); a lot of the sand and beach area may still be underwater.
The RDCO says there are no known water quality issues in the region, but there is still a lot of debris along the shoreline.