It could be August before boats are back on Okanagan Lake

KELOWNA – If emergency officials are waiting for Okanagan Lake to drop to 'full pool' before finally giving boaters the thumbs up, that might not happen until August.

As of Tuesday morning, Okanagan Lake was at 343.08 metres above sea level — still 60 cms above full pool. It went down 2.1 centimetres from Monday’s level, according to the Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre and if that continues it could be roughly 30 more days till the lake drops to normal levels.

Officials are still preparing recovery plans, including how to reintroduce boats to the lake, perhaps as early as tomorrow. That plan may include graduated introduction so long as boats keep wakes and waves from certain higher-risk areas identified by maps. 

According to Mandi Carroll with the Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre, they are also considering using digital signboards at boat launches and around the community detailing safe boating activities.

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