In my last post, I asked where the source of Park Rill was. The Publisher informed me that Twin Lakes was the source. I then talked to one of my sisters and we discussed feeder streams. In between the actual creek, which starts on the south side of Hwy 97 near the north end of Island Road, and Twin lakes, there are many feeder streams for Park Rill. It seems that the sand hills which start near McIntyre Bluff and end near the silica pit, harbor the under ground waters which feed Park Rill.
North of Coverts Farm and west of McIntyre Bluff is Rattlesnake Lake, which is a puddle with no outlet, but the water goes somewhere. Hacks Pond at the base of a sand hill and below Coverts Farm, is spring fed but goes nowhere too, I am told. The area between River Road and the sand hills is damp in places. These locales all feed Park Rill.
Victoria Creek feeds Park Rill too.
Further south, on formerly the Tasker farm, is a slough near the base of a sand hill, which flows under Hwy 97, and under the former Smith property into Park Rill. Wally Smith dug drainage ditches which emptied into the creek in an effort to make the land usable. The land was highly alkaline which is unsuitable for fruit tree growing. The water in the ditches ran year around, was ice cold and very tasty. Wally left a cup hanging on a nearby tree to quench a thirst as the water cascaded out of the ditch and into the creek.
I am not aware of other streams flowing into Park Rill, but the creek flows several miles south of the Smith farm before emptying into the Okanagan River.
Laird Smith
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Publisher: Good article but to my reference – the source that is a long way off is in the area of Twin Lakes – you can see the gully on the back roads leading to White Lake, the old boar ranch, Willowbrook, Secrest and then to the dam. Victoria Creek feeds from the lake system above the UBC Camp. Other sources I will not deny – it’s a complicated system (when dry beds begin to rage at certain times – spring and fall) – with many times the water going underground and surfacing later and in high water times – a lot of flooding.
On the valley floor – the old river system, channelling, oxbows etc. and MEMORIES complicate the true water course. Take Sportsman’s Bowl – the creek separates at the top of the bowl into two streams. By the time it gets to the highway at Tomlin’s there is total confusion as to how it gets across and then into the bushes to join yet another water course that is not visible to most people.
The experts would be mapmakers and hydrologists.