Kelowna residents and fish benefit from costly creek restoration project

It’s an expensive restoration job for a creek that flooded a Kelowna neighbourhood last spring.

Work is underway to remove about 1.5 kilometres of concrete flume in Upper Vernon Creek which was damaged by the rushing flood waters.

“We had a couple options, says City of Kelowna spokesperson Fred Schaad. “Either replace the concrete flume which is a fish barrier or remove the concrete and install a liner for a more naturalized channel.”

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The restoration work includes removing the flume, lining the creek banks with large rock for erosion control, planting riparian vegetation and installing an impermeable liner.

“The liner is important because it’s an alluvial fan and the soils are very pervious,” says Schaad. “During low flows, which is most of the year, that water dives into the ground and into the water table near Holiday Park Resort and saturates their septic fields etc. So it really causes problems for downstream land owners.”

Removing gravel that accumulated in the channel during the spring flooding will also help prevent future such events in the future.

The work will also benefit fish populations.

“We’re installing pools and riffles and cascades and other fish structures,” says Schaad.

The provincial government is covering 80 per cent of the $5 million project cost with the City of Kelowna paying the remainder.

The work is scheduled for completion at the end of March before the onset of spring runoff.