Water levels on Okanagan Lake have dropped concerningly low.

“Right now they are about, in actual terms, 341.85 metres above sea level. That’s probably about 40 centimetres approximately, below our target for this time of year,” said Shaun Reimer, the BC Government's section head of public safety and protection for the region. He’s the man in charge of the Penticton Dam.

The lake is about 60 centimetres lower than the same time last year.

“We are within about a centimetre of where we were for the same date in 2003, and I know that makes people anxious because, of course, a lot of people remember that as being that particularly bad forest fire year.”

The only thing that can really help water levels right now is substantial rainfall.

“A really big thunderstorm, probably under the sort of conditions we have now, can add a centimetre of water to the lake,” said Reimer.

If the rain doesn’t come, we’ll have to wait until winter snowfall and then the spring melt to refill the lake.

“We always have the opportunity to replenish in a normal year, but where the concern would really be is if we followed up this year with a similar drought year next year.”

Reimer said so far he hasn’t heard much from farmers who rely on the lake to irrigate their crops, but it’s getting to the point where he expects to start getting worried calls.

What has him concerned is the early heatwave in late June started lowering lake levels earlier than in a typical year.

Reimer could let a bit less water out through the dam, but says that would make very little difference, raising the lake only about a centimetre by mid-September.

You can track the level of Okanagan Lake, and compare it to last year, here on Castanet.

Photo: Castanet Staff