Ducks enjoyed a swim at Goodman Park 10 days ago. The lake has now dropped eight inches from its high of 916.45 feet above sea level reached on May 12. (Richard McGuire photo)
Osoyoos Lake and the Similkameen River have fallen significantly in recent days and the sharp rise predicted a week ago hasn’t materialized.
As of 10 a.m. Monday, Osoyoos Lake was at 915.78 feet above sea level, its lowest level since Thursday, May 10. That’s eight inches lower than the high mark of 916.45 reached the morning of Saturday, May 12.
The drop of the Similkameen is even more dramatic, falling to 19,400 cubic feet per second (cfs) Monday morning as measured at Nighthawk, Washington for the U.S. Geological Survey.
The river normally is a predictor of rises and falls of Osoyoos Lake, and it reached a high of 32,300 cfs on May 10, just two days before Osoyoos Lake peaked.
While renewed flooding could still occur, much of the snowpack responsible for earlier flooding has now melted. Nonetheless, the ground is saturated, and a heavy rainfall could still cause problems.
Results of the May 15 snow survey are expected to be released by the B.C. River Forecast Centre on Tuesday. Last week Dave Campbell, head of the River Forecast Centre, announced some preliminary results to media, showing that the melt of snowpack is significant across the province.
In most parts of the province it is now below normal for this time of year, however in areas such as the Okanagan and Similkameen that were seriously affected by flooding, snowpack is still higher than normal.
Campbell said there is very little snow at low elevations currently. About half the snow has melted from mid-elevations and about 10 to 30 per cent has melted at upper elevations, based on May 15 survey preliminary results.
Last week, forecasters were predicting a new peak level for Osoyoos Lake would be reached last Friday, with some even speculating it could surpass 917 feet above sea level.
While the lake did rise back to 916.32 feet on Friday, it was still an inch and a half below the May 12 high, thanks to cooler weather than predicted.
Referring to the Similkameen, along with several other B.C. Rivers, the River Forecast Centre said on Friday: “The likelihood of these rivers flooding from only snowmelt contributions has now dissipated, and the ongoing risk is associated with widespread rainfall.”
The Town of Osoyoos has not issued any new evacuation orders since May 11, when it added 30 addresses to the 23 already under evacuation.
Last Thursday, it did issue evacuation alerts for some properties in the Cottonwood Drive, Lakeshore Drive and Lacey Point areas. An evacuation alert is a warning that residents might have to evacuate at short notice.
As of Monday morning, none of these evacuation orders or alerts has been rescinded.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
