Restore Penticton Creek

In the 1950s, the Penticton Creek was ‘channelized’ in response to flooding that devastated Penticton’s downtown. While the concrete channel helped with flood management, native fish species struggled with the loss of natural creek habitat and populations dropped. Over time, the concrete channel deteriorated.

In 2012, the community identified the restoration of the creek as a priority for the Downtown Plan and in 2018, Council approved a plan to restore the creek in several phases over many years at an estimated cost of $30 million. Two previous projects addressed the restoration of the creek between Ellis Street and Nanaimo Avenue just downstream of this new project and three other projects have addressed some of the upstream sections of the creek.

Current Phase of Work

More than two-thirds of the scheduled summer work on the Penticton Creek restoration project above Nanaimo Avenue has been completed, with the remainder of in-creek work now set for next year’s fish window (2023). Creek flow is being restored in the new channel and the removal of the current diversion pipe and dam is underway in readiness for the Kokanee and Rainbow trout to spawn.
 
Improvements to the walkway are also coming along, as the existing creek side walkway will be widened to match the walkway to the north (downstream) and include new low level LED lighting designed to illuminate the walkway for pedestrian safety without light spillover to adjacent areas.  Read the latest news release.

Frequently Asked Questions

Studies and City Reports