Penticton Dam manager Shaun Reimer predicts that Lake Okanagan will rise above the full pool in the next 24 hours. “We are always worried when it rains a lot as we reach our annual peak and that is a goal we are really trying to reach, because it provides water for irrigation and fish for the rest of the summer. and in the fall. “ “When the extra rain-induced inflow comes into the lake we can obviously exceed that goal of a full pool. That does not mean we will go too high above this goal of a full pool. It will really depend on the rain.” said Reimer. Reimer says that before the recent, significant rainfall, the rate of rise was falling. “They were going up less than a centimeter a day. This was telling us that we were starting to lose a little bit of snow because this inflow was mainly due to the snow. If it rains 20 millimeters, then that in itself is two centimeters in the lake just beyond that. which falls into the tributaries and creeks “. Reimer says that as of Monday morning, the lake was five inches below the goal of the full pool. “There is still some space there, but we are waiting for this rain to come and I think it is still a little uncertain about how much rain will reach Okanagan. We should have a better understanding in the next few days.” “We’re maximizing the outflow. We could probably increase it a bit more, but that will start to affect a lot of other people downstream, and when we’re not in full concentration, it would be very difficult to justify.” he said. Reimer says he watches downstream tributaries. “They are upsetting because of this rain. As this passes and these creeks fall, it gives us a little more room to water the Okanagan River between Okanagan and Lake Osoyoos.”
