More public access to shore

To our many new residents, welcome to Kelowna.

You may have noticed that, compared to many other places, it's really difficult to walk more than a short distance along our waterfront. Like most of Canada, it's legal here for you to walk along the Okanagan Lake foreshore—the strip of beach between where the lake currently is, and where it would be at its highest level.

You're also allowed to walk or swim almost anywhere in the lake because the water and the lake bottom are owned by the province (all of us).

The city has increased public accessibility to our lake by adding a few waterfront parks in the last several years. Outside of those beach parks, when you try to walk along the foreshore, you'll run into a lot of obstacles in front of lakefront houses.

There are provincial laws that govern those private docks, fences and walls built on the publicly-owned foreshore and (onto and into the) lake. Those laws are designed to ensure we can continue to walk along there.

Unfortunately, the province very rarely enforces them, which results in more and more obstacles. If you happen to be in contact with any city or provincial politicians, please tell them you'd like more public access to our lake.

Al Janusas, Kelowna