The Regional District of North Okanagan is asking boaters to me mindful of their wakes near residents’ properties and the Okanagan Rail Trail to avoid erosion during high water season.
Snowmelt and groundwater discharge is causing higher water levels on Kalamalka Lake. On Thursday the district said that keeping wakes to a minimum within 40 metres of the shoreline will reduce the effects of the wave action and the amount of erosion on the shoreline.
“The erosion work we have completed on the Okanagan Rail Trail is only on small sections of the trail. This was mainly to fix sections that had been damaged by previous storms,” said Mike Fox, general manager of community services for the RDNO. “To mitigate erosion on the entire RDNO stretch of the Okanagan Rail Trail would cost millions.”
Erosion is caused in part by natural factors such as storms, but the district said reducing man-made waves is an effective way to prevent further erosion.
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