McArthur Island Boat Launch, April 8, 2023/via Victor Kaisar
While water levels are slowly on the rise, the data shows we’re dealing with below average river and lake levels in our region at the moment.
Data for the Thompson River at Kamloops shows water levels through the last week of March below 1.76 meters.
Water level readings on the Thompson River at the Kamloops Station/via Government of Canada
Forecasting shows the levels are expected to go above 2 meters by the weekend.
However, that’s still well below the median average of between 2.5 to 3 meters for this time of year.
Out east on the Shuswap, Tracy Hughes with the Columbia-Shuswap Regional District says they have five different boat launches shut down right now.
“Most of our boat launches around Shuswap Lake are closed at the moment,” noted Hughes. “That includes Magna Bay in the North Shuswap, Harbour Road and Whitehead Road in the South Shuswap, the Markwart Boat Launch and Windsor Road at Swansea Point.”
Hughes notes this is somewhat unusual for this time of year, noting that most of those boat launches would normally be open by April 1st.
She suggests this is due to the relatively low water level on the whole of Shuswap Lake itself.
“Generally the lake levels at April 1st are slightly over 345 meters. Right now we’re below that at 344.7, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but when you consider how large the lake is, that’s a large volume of water.”
The BC government this week is due to provide an update on its expectations for the spring melt, as well as for forest fires.
–With files from Victor Kaisar and Brett Mineer
Thompson River looking downstream toward Kamloops Lake from McArthur Island, April 8, 2023/via Victor Kaisar
Thompson River looking toward Overlanders Bridge from Rabbit Island, April 8, 2023/via Victor Kaisar
