Flooding, claims, reporting demands on the mind of directors at RDOS meeting Thursday in Penticton.
Area C Director Terry Schafer has scheduled a Town Hall type meeting for Wednesday August 23.
(6pm at the Oliver Community Centre).
Schafer wants rural residents to have a say on recent events including flooding, fires and landslides.
Representatives of the Regional District, the Province and others will be on hand to answer questions and concerns.
Josie Symonds, Ecosystem Biologist/Habitat Officer (Ministry of Forest Lands and Resources) told directors that Okanagan Lake has lowered itself to a less dangerous place but much work will be done in the months ahead to return it to normal including the removal of all sandbags and bladderbags that helped to save shoreline.
2 to 3 million sandbags were used in the Thompson-Okanagan region this spring.
Symonds says very few reports (mandatory) have come in on alterations to shorelines, creeks, rivers etc. and her ministry will be working with local government to bring that data into a central collection center for analysis
One question on the mind of directors given by Mayor Andrew Jakubeit – ” could more water have been sent down the channels from Penticton dam to lower Okanagan Lake “.
Ministry spokespeople at the meeting said a full investigation is underway on that subject with a report expected early next year.
Directors also heard about a mapping project completed in 2016 on the entire Okanagan Lake showing all docks, buildings near the water, retaining walls. Concern expressed that in one years the Lake may not be able to sustain its pristine nature – if more development, re-development is allowed to occur. Directors urged to work on a valley wide LAKE plan to guarantee more public access and use. The amount of boats centralized near built up areas seen as a problem with ‘wake’ damage and collision situations. 2 percent of the shoreline goes from wild to developed each year indicating that in the long term – the lake will become more of a concern for all of us.