Riverside Park ~ MacArthur Park ~ Kamloops, BC ~ Flooding 2017

Flooding is not new to Kamloops but the threat of it still creates fear of the possibility of it happening again.  The fact there are two rivers meeting at Kamloops only doubles the chances.

Riverside Park in Kamloops

This winter there was a lot of snow up in those mountains, then we got some cool days with quite a bit of rain, and then the hot weather speeds up the melting.  Mix all of that together and we have a flood threat in Kamloops.

High water at Thompson River wharf

The parks are feeling the high water level, although that hasn’t stopped people from visiting the parks.  The wharf at Riverside Park is at water level, when it is usually several metres above that.  The railings have been removed to discourage any visitors onto that so barely visible.

Forbidden waters

Normally there is a very large sandy beach between the sidewalk shown and the river’s edge.  This shows the water to be about as high as we’d like to see it come up.  At this point, the damage appears to be extremely minimal.

Playtime

There are white bags sitting on water grates all over the city that will hopefully prevent any water coming up through those grates from the storm drains.   Water in this parking lot at the east end of Riverside Park is fairly shallow so many are enjoying the walk through the water.

River height history

This monument shows the water heights throughout history but also the height of the water for the floods we’ve been through.  The one that we personally lived through was in 1972, 3 weeks after we’d moved into our new home.  More info on this from a previous blog I had written here.  

Under the railway bridge

Typically one would be able to follow the path under the bridge that would then take you to Pioneer Park, which is mainly covered in water on this day.

Kids playing in the water

At this point, the railway bridge is not in any danger from the rising waters.  Many people were at the park enjoying this sunny Sunday with their families, many of which were playing in the water, and it was not only the young that were playing.

MacArthur Park boat launch

The boat launch at MacArthur Park has been closed due to the high waters, although the next photo shows a small boat tied to the small wharf, which is usually many feet lower than it is now.  Signs do not always work but at least this boat is not out on the river, which would be quite dangerous to maneuver.

At this point in time, the North Thompson River has been said to have crested, meaning there is no longer a danger of flooding.  The South Thompson River has not crested yet, but had dropped several inches since these photos were taken.  The threat of flooding has lessened and hopefully will allow Kamloops to get past this point, once again, without any damage done by flooding.

Springtime ~ Lakes and Creeks

Spring has been a cool wet one this year, more so than usual and we are all impatiently waiting for our warm days of semi-arid weather to arrive.  We planned to take a drive out to see some of our countryside sights when our next nice sunny day arrived, and it did.  We headed south on the Princeton-Kamloops Highway, more often called the old Merritt highway.

The green hills of  Kamloops

We were commenting on the nice green hills we still have, which is usually turning brown by the time May rolls around, and we can be thankful to the rain for that.  As well, we can hope that the rain might make a difference in our usual summer forest fire season and prevent it from being a bad one.

Old ranch buildings

We can often see the remnants of old buildings on many of the fields in this ranching country.  Kamloops has been cattle ranching country forever and the signs can remind us of that on these country road travels.  I seem to have a penchant for these derelict old buildings for their history and stories so have quite a collection of photos.

Runaway creeks

Following Hwy 5A there are several lakes along this stretch of highway between Kamloops and our planned turnoff at Peter Hope Rd.  We pass Shumway Lake, Trapp Lake, Ritchie, Napier and Stump Lakes.  With all the rain we’ve been having, these lakes have all grown in size and we are seeing a lot of very wet fields as we go, too.

Stump Lake

There is a small area beside Stump Lake with picnic tables to sit at and enjoy the view……… usually.  Today they are under water with just the tops of those tables showing.   Spring is runoff time but I think this may be more than the normal water level expected on Stump Lake.

Longhorn cattle

My limited knowledge of cattle may be a problem at times, so please correct me if I am wrong, but I think this might be a Texas Longhorn.  These are not commonly seen in our area, but they do fit the description I found on my usual trusty computer for longhorn cattle. 

Roadside creek

We drove up Peter Hope Rd to see the lake, and this was one of the sights of a creek rushing down the side of the roads.  Markers were there to show the minor roadside washout, which was nothing to worry about yet but that turned out to be one of the mildest creeks we saw.

Rushing creek

This was taken further down the road from the previous photo.  The creek is a bit larger but no damage to speak of.  More interesting was the tiny log opening that was built into the banks of this creek.  I didn’t get any closer so could not see how deep it went but it was small so I believe it was not meant to be a home, perhaps a temporary shelter for trappers of the old days.  I am very curious so if anyone has the answer, I’d appreciate hearing it.

Springtime water

We turned onto Campbell Creek Rd from the highway to follow that route over to Barnhartvale.  These fields showed how the creek overflows and creates several small ponds and more routes to carry the water, and had washed out a private bridge on its way.

Water damage to road

This was as far as we got.  The road was not closed but it sure did not look safe enough to drive over.  We turned around, as this car was doing on the other side, and headed back out the way we had come. 

This has been a very wet year for Kamloops area and the flooding has caused problems.  We enjoyed our drive but can only hope that the rainy season has passed and Mother Nature prevents the normal runoff from our snowy mountains that could cause more flooding.