Windermere Creek Flooding

Observation by Jack Caldbick

Flooding events on Windermere creek have been steadily, and excessively, increasing since 2011.

These increases have been due to excessive rainfall in short bursts that have now become common, and human activity like deforestation, open gypsum mining, and agriculture. These flooding events are unusual and unique now, rather than other flooding events in the last hundred years. This is because they have contained significantly more sediments that have upset spawning pools for Kokanee salmon and some trout species, as well as affecting the turbidity for drinking water.

Further, these flooding events have now become a common occurrence since 2011 that have upset spawning pools, increased sediment deposits into Lake Windermere (and ultimately into the Columbia River), and affected some homes. However, studies and impact assessments have only been conducted as of 2011 and 2012 and not since then, but local farmers and inhabitants have reported excessive flooding and sediment deposits annually during the spring & summer months to the point where they have begun to build their own barriers to stop the water. Linked here is the PDF to the Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) Hydrological Assessment.