Penticton River Channel fee sunk to calm angry floaters

A controversial $2 environmental fee has been lifted for people who want to float down the River Channel in Penticton.

Coyote Cruises started charging the fee. They tried to collect the money from their customers. Coyote Cruises was also collecting the fee from people who brought their own floaties and weren’t renting tubes from the business.

The money was to help pay the cost of cleaning up the discarded floating devices and other assorted litter left behind by the nearly 100,000 floaters the River Channel gets each summer. The channel runs between Okanagan and Skaha Lakes.

The City of Penticton and the Penticton Indian Band have signed a letter of intent to begin talks aimed at resolving the outstanding maintenance concerns.

The Band rescinded the $2 fee immediately.

“The Penticton Indian Band is our neighbour, and we are committed to working with them to resolve outstanding issues. It is beneficial to have these protocols in place to ensure our joint interests are addressed,” said City of Penticton Acting Mayor Garry Litke.

“We are pleased that the City of Penticton is working with us on good environmental stewardship. We all play a part in taking care of the land. The end result is a healthy River Channel and positive experience for everyone,” said Penticton Indian Band Chief Jonathan Kruger.

To contact a reporter for this story, to send photos or videos, email Shannon Quesnel at squesnel@infotelnews.ca, call 250-488-3065 or tweet @shannonquesnel1.