Water rises close to a sandbagged utility building at the south end of Lakeshore Drive. (Richard McGuire photo)

Osoyoos Lake has been rising rapidly since the weekend, and there are strong indications it could go higher and the freshet could last longer this year.

At the time this paper went to press, the lake level was still below last year’s peak of 914.89 feet, but not by much.

The bad news is that the Similkameen River is now quite a bit higher than during last year’s flooding, which came at the beginning of June.

Also, snowpacks this year are at record levels, much bigger than last year. So far, the weather has only reached into the teens and 20s and as of yet most of the snowmelt has been at the lower and middle elevations.

There’s a lot more snow at higher elevations that has yet to melt. If we get a spell of much hotter weather, with temperatures in the 30s, that snow could raise river and lake levels much higher and could be catastrophic.

The good news is that managers of the dam at Okanagan Lake in Penticton have been more proactive this spring in allowing the level of that enormous reservoir to fall.

Thanks to these spring releases, Okanagan Lake is around 62 centimetres lower than it was at this time last year. Spread over its vast surface, that means the lake can take in a lot more water before it floods like last year.

This means managers have more ability to hold back water, easing up on the water that comes down the Okanagan River into Osoyoos Lake.

Currently twice as much water is coming into Osoyoos Lake as is going out at the Zosel Dam in Oroville. And that dam’s gates are wide open and have been since March.

Even if all the water were cut off at the dam in Penticton – and it can’t be – there is still a lot of water flooding down in the tributaries around Oliver that can keep the level of Osoyoos Lake rising.

The Similkameen contains much more water than the Okanogan River, which it meets just below Oroville. When the Similkameen River is high, it acts as a dam against water coming from Osoyoos Lake.

Our best hope is that the flow of the Similkameen River will ease before too long, allowing more water to escape from Osoyoos Lake.

For now though, all that local residents and officials can do is sandbag properties, help their neighbours and hope for the best.

Officials and residents seem better prepared this year than they were last year and many people living near water have a good idea of the lake level at which their property floods.

Many volunteers have been helping to fill sandbags for seniors and others who need help. On Tuesday, students from Osoyoos Secondary School were at the boat trailer parking filling sandbags for others.

Boat launches are now closing, but just in case someone didn’t get the memo, boaters are encouraged to slow down, or better yet, don’t take your boat out. Wakes from boats can do shoreline damage and there is a lot of debris in the water to hit.

Hopefully the water begins to recede before too long. If this summer is like last, it’s only a matter of time until we’re more concerned about drought and wildfires.