BC Flooding: Shuswap Lake could peak this weekend

The Shuswap region remained under a flood watch on Thursday.

Both Shuswap Lake and Shuswap River water levels were high, but have yet to peak.

Recent rain has swelled the Shuswap River which has already breached its banks flooding Enderby’s Tuey Park.

The park is now closed and a temporary berm has been installed across the entrance to try to prevent the water from coming up the road.

The Shuswap River is expected to keep rising with the peak expected sometime in the next few weeks.

“Right now the river forecast is projecting that the river level will continue to rise over the next day and a half or so and then start a gradual decline. That is the short-term forecast, but we are anticipating it will continue to rise over the next few weeks as all the snowpack in the mountains continues to work its way down,” said Tate Bengtson, the director of Enderby’s emergency operations centre.

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Downstream at Shuswap Lake, the water is still well below historical high levels but that could soon change as the water is rising quickly. The lake is expected to peak near the end of the weekend or early next week.

“We are looking at peaking about 349 m which is a pretty high level. It is certainly a level that causes some flooding concerns for people, especially in flood-prone areas,” said Tracy Hughes a public information officer with the Shuswap Emergency Program.

“It doesn’t look we are projected to hit 1972 which was 349.5 but we may be hovering around that 2018, 2012 mark.”

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The Shuswap Emergency Program is making plans to protect critical infrastructure, and with the Shuswap River and Shuswap Lake set to rise, the public is encouraged to do the same.

“2012 and 2018 taught us some lessons about what is going to flood. So if you know your home is going to be in one of those flood-prone areas take precautions now and start getting prepped,” said Hughes.

Hughes is also encouraging boaters to go slowly and keep their boat wakes to a minimum as boat wakes can overwhelm flood defenses and lead to increased damage.