PENTICTON, B.C. - Leaking private dams have triggered an evacuation alert for 11 homes in the B.C. community of Anarchist Mountain, east of Osoyoos.
Dale Kronebusch, Emergency Services Supervisor with the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen, said inspectors found five unapproved dams on private property along a water reservoir.
"They happened to come across this one that wasn't a sanctioned one, and so I don't know if it was illegal or not, but it certainly wasn't approved. And low and behold there was five of them in a row and two of them actually appear to have breaches in them," he said Friday.
He said the dams lack proper engineering to accommodate water overflows.
Kronebusch said as a result, people in 11 homes in the Regal Ridge subdivision have been told to be ready to leave on short notice.
Two other flood alerts remain in place in the southern Okanagan Valley.
High groundwater levels and flooding from Otter Lake are threatening homes, mostly unoccupied summer cabins, in the community of Tulameen, north of Princeton, while the Oliver area is on alert because of high water in Okanagan Lake and the Okanagan River.
In addition, with temperatures expected to reach the mid 20's in the Similkameen during the weekend, there's the potential for flooding south of Penticton.
On Thursday, the B.C. River Forecast Centre issued an advisory about possible flooding in the Southern Interior because hotter weather will melt more snow and raise river levels.
Centre Director Dave Campbell said there may be some minor flooding in low-lying areas, but no major flooding is expected.
