“Just wondering – Since you were on the Council, do they and/or the Town know something we don’t? Some of us from southern Alberta are astounded at all the construction of homes allowed next to the river in marshland/flood plain. For instance, there’s new construction behind the flea market on one side of the dyke, and on the other side, the river is very close. Why is this possible out here?

They also “conformed” in High River, AB, but look what happened in 2013 – all that water came down from Banff/Canmore. I saw last summer that they tore down all the homes on flood plain in High River.

I bet those buildings here in town will see shifting and cracks in the future. I don’t trust living by any river and high water tables!”

Marjo Koskinen

Answer: The Okanagan river in most parts is channeled – not a wild river. All building conform to building code and flood plain laws – my house at Riverside Villas is just feet from the river. Nothing untoward in over 20 years. The channel was built in the mid fifties to prevent flooding – when you see new construction like that on Meadows Drive – you see the amount of fill it takes to bring the land up high enough to build on – sometime 8-10 feet above the former swamp it is sitting on.