In 1952 the course of the Okanagan River through the City of Penticton, between Okanagan and Skaha Lakes, was straightened and channelized. This followed the damming of the river in 1948, both projects undertaken in an effort to minimize flooding downstream and to improve the Okanagan River irrigation system.
As a river flows through a valley bottom it will naturally meander left and right of its main course to follow the natural slopes of the local topography. When a river is later forced into a straight channel, as was done here, the meanders are left unattached to the river. Being the areas of lowest elevation in the area, they will become catch basins for runoff of snow melt and rainfall, forming small lakes or ponds, each with the curved or arc shape of the meander in the former river, each becoming wetland and riparian habitat. These ponds are known as Oxbows, after the name for the shape of a
U-shaped piece of wood.
As one would expect, there are a number of Oxbows still to be seen in Penticton along the river channel in areas which have remained largely undisturbed. The best place from which to experience them is from the walking trail along the west side of the river channel, from Green Avenue West south to Skaha Lake Road. The largest single Oxbow, now a series of large and small ponds for much of the year, ends at Skaha Lake Road just east of the Channel Parkway - Highway 97.
Penticton Oxbows
Description of Historic Place:
The Penticton Oxbows are truncated remnants of the Okanagan River along the channelized Okanagan River between Okanagan and Skaha Lakes in Penticton, British Columbia.
Heritage Value:
The Penticton Oxbows have historic value because they are the last remaining physical evidence of the natural waterways which originally ran through the area. They are symbolic of the former significance of water as the life-blood which sustained local human settlement since time immemorial. These historic resources are important because they tell the story of the evolution of Penticton's cultural landscape. Their natural forms and locations remind us of the importance of the local natural riparian ecology.
They also possess heritage value as a byproduct of the era of modifying waterways in which man could triumph over nature through engineering works, which began locally with dredging in the 1880s and hit its apex in the 1948 when the Okanagan River was dammed for flood-control reasons. The River Channel was constructed in 1952, as part of a flood control system to manage the often occurring flooding of Osoyoos Lake from the runoff of the Similkameen River, and to also feed into existing irrigation systems.
Character-Defining Elements:
Key elements that define the heritage character of the Penticton Oxbows include its:
- relationships to the Okanagan river and other local waterways
- associations with Okanagan First Nation fishing sites and villages
- ecological values of oxbows for water quality, nutrient storage, fish and riparian habitat
- association with engineering works
From Historic Places Canada