Editor:
We were in Penticton last week (before travel restrictions) and enjoyed Penticton to the fullest as we always do. We bought kayaks last summer, using them on the ocean mostly and hadn’t had the chance to use them on the lake and canal yet so we were very excited to do so this trip – Love it here.
The Bad News:
It is shameful the garbage on the lake floor! The canal was OK aside from bank trash but Okanagan Lake side was sadly, debris littered! (didn’t go out on Skaha)… literally Hundreds of golf balls, tires, buckets and beer cans!
And as a kicker there was a very foul raw sewage smell coming from Penticton Creek that feeds in near the Japanese Garden – this definitely needs to be investigated for everyone’s health.
The town’s pride and jewel is in the water access and great activities that come with it — a clean up crew could easily do a lot of damage in a single day by boat, not to mention dedicating a week to retrieve these easily retrievable items from the banks and lake bottoms.
I would have done my part with the right tools and will if needed in our next return.
Hopefully the city can put this forward as a yearly spring “clean up duty agenda” for safety purposes and general good earthly stewardship for all to enjoy the Penticton area.
Actually why stop there? The whole lake and the tenants on it should step up yearly right Kelowna? Vernon? Summerland?
Joe Zucchet
White Rock
READ ALSO: Paddleboarder in Vernon cleans up tons of trash from Okanagan Lake
