Nicola Lake water level at a ‘historic low’

Lake-goers will need to be more watchful if planning to venture into Nicola Lake this summer. That’s the message from the Guardians of Nicola Lake as they shared the latest update about the conditions of the popular spot. Dawne Tomlinson, the vice-president of the Guardians of Nicola Lake, urged people to avoid venturing [...]

Lake-goers will need to be more watchful if planning to venture into Nicola Lake this summer. That’s the message from the Guardians of Nicola Lake as they shared the latest update about the conditions of the popular spot. Dawne Tomlinson, the vice-president of the Guardians of Nicola Lake, urged people to avoid venturing into the water if they see any blue-green algae floating on the surface.

“It is important that people look visually,” said Tomlinson. “If you see green on the water, it’s best to stay out. It is a very tricky and dynamic situation, honestly.

It might be clear right now but might have green algae in some time. It just keeps changing. I swim there every day.

Everyone’s risk taking capacity is different. “Would I risk taking my puppy into the water? Probably not,” said Tomlinson, referring to the death of a puppy last year and one dog getting seriously ill.

The Guardians have been working very closely with the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, and the Ministry of Parks and Water. The outlook is grim egarding the water levels at the lake. Despite the recent rainfall, there was only a slight increase in the water level.

According to Tomlinson, they are facing a “historical” low water level. “We were informed that the water level is not going to go up in the lake. We are already seeing more beach than ever, which is not good,” expressed Tomlinson.

The Ministries have predicted that the lake could fall below the dam outlet elevation, resulting in little to no water flowing out of Nicola Lake by summer. This could worsen the algae issues. The Guardians of the Nicola Lake have been proactively working with various government and non-government agencies to get to the root of the algae bloom issue.

“We are trying to find the