City staff identified areas of damage resulting from this year's high water on Okanagan Lake, noting possible damage to retaining walls to the left of Okanagan Lake dam, shown at bottom of photo.

(STEVE ARSTAD / iNFOnews.ca)

PENTICTON - The City of Penticton is moving into cleanup mode following this spring’s high water levels on Okanagan Lake.

General Manager of Infrastructure Mitch Moroziuk says the City’s recovery team is now scheduling the removal of sandbags along Okanagan Lake, which will coincide with dropping water levels.

Moroziuk says several waterfront structures have been damaged by high water, and others will be subject to further examination as water levels subside.

The City has found rip-rap damage to rock groins near the SS Sicamous and Marina Way Park, walkway undermining along Lakeshore Drive, retaining wall base erosion, paving stone damage at Rotary Park, structural damage to the Rotary Park walking pier and asphalt damage to the marina parking lot.

It is likely the walking pier would not open to the public this year, he says.

The City is also waiting for water levels to drop further to assess damage to waterfront trees, retaining wall damage near the SS Sicamous and stair and beach damage at Three Mile Beach.

A request for proposal for a contractor to remove sandbags in stages from the Penticton waterfront will close July 11.

"Removal of tiger dams and sandbags will be based on water levels and beach space, and what we are really interested in there is if we get big waves, the waves have enough room to run out so they don't damage infrastructure," Moroziuk says.

Tiger dams will be removed by city staff beginning Aug. 1, with sandbag removal to begin July 16, based on water level.

The City has incurred costs of $784,000 to June 30, $705,000 of which has come from the province. Moroziuk said the remaining $79,000 was the result of costs incurred by the City, largely from staff working on the flood control efforts.

Moroziuk says staff were also looking at ways to prevent future damage while assessing repairs, noting provincial funding will not pay for improvements.

Temporary repairs will be made by July, with permanent repairs expected to last into 2018, he says, while any further costs would come back to council for approval at later dates.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. 

News from © iNFOnews, 2017