Kelowna Capital News – August 15, 2020
Local governments in the Okanagan are calling on boaters to be mindful of their wakes in shallow water, for the sake of swimmers, drinking water, wildlife, the shoreline and more.
Power boaters on Kalamalka and Wood lakes are asked to go slow and keep wakes low as they head to the ‘Playzone’, where water is deeper than eight metres.
The call to action comes after the conclusion of a 2019 study, which identified that wakes and prop wash from powerboats could disturb the lake bottom up to a depth of eight metres, creating drinking water problems when contaminants in lake bottom sediment are kicked up by wakes, entering drinking water intakes. These contaminants can include bacteria, heavy metals, pesticide residues and hydrocarbons.