Flooding: farmer fed up

A Southeast Kelowna farmer says this year's flooding may be the worst he's experienced.

Ron McMillan's family has lived on McMillan Farms since 1950, and they have seen a lot of flooding over the years.

More than 35 acres were flooded by Mission Creek last week, bringing with it sand and debris.

McMillan says the creek needs to be dredged, and he's concerned about not only his farm, but his neighbours' with rising water in the forecast.

He says this year is coming close to the worst year he's ever seen, which was in 2012, and he fears it could get even worse.

McMillan says the last year Mission Creek was dredged near his property was in 2006. He doesn’t understand why it stopped.

“It is cheaper to dredge and deal with that cost now than it is to deal with someone's home being destroyed, a bridge being destroyed, roads being washed out,” he said.

“It’s way overdue,” he said. “They need to come out here and have a real look.”

Rushing water last week filled his fields with about two to four feet of water.

The BC River Forecast Centre expects Mission Creek flows to peak again on Friday, reaching over 140 cubic metres per second.

“If that water comes up as much as they are forecasting there are going to be a lot of problems, and it is not just these areas,” said McMillan.