The spring of 2017 has seen flooding in the Okanagan, record rainfalls and, according to Environment Canada the “gloomiest” day on record (March 28). Bowen Island has not been spared the moisture and the gloom, adding extra work for local park maintenance crews.
“We can barely keep up on the weed-whacking and mowing,” says Bruce Lyne, the municipality’s operations manager for parks. “Everything is growing like crazy, which is quite different from what I experienced last spring, when we were already concerned about water conservation by the end of May.”
He adds that the rain has caused flooding and trail damage in several parks around the island.
“Malkin Creek was particularly bad,” says Lyne. “Flooding washed out a nearby trail. We doubled the size of the culvert to handle the increase in water, and also put in large rocks between the stream and the trails in the hopes that we can prevent the damage from happening twice.”
Streams in Quarry Park and on the Evergreen development have also flooded and caused damage in recent weeks, says Lyne.
The trail between the meadow and the bridge in Crippen Park has also been flooded, and after several days of being closed off, re-opened on Wednesday. Tom McComb, Supervisor of Park Operations for Crippen, says that there’s been no place for the water to flood to. When asked about flooding caused by nearby beaver dams he said, Metro Parks is “working with the beavers.”
“We put beaver-deceivers in the dams,” he says, explaining that these devices are essentially pipes that allow the water to continue flowing through. “We’ll go in and dismantle part of the dam and put the pipe in. By the next day they’ll have built over it, completely repairing the dam. They are very industrious.”
The need to tamper with beaver dams and mitigate flood damage should be over soon, as weather forecasts are calling for a sustained sunny period and increasing temperatures by the weekend.
Sophie Isdinga, Communications Co-ordinator for the Municipality says that while council has endorsed Metro Vancouver’s water restrictions (which came into effect on May 15) here on Bowen, these are just considered guidelines. While the municipality does not measure water levels in Grafton Lake over the winter, they will start to record and keep track of water levels once they dip below the spill-way.
