South Thompson Drainage
Welcome to our 4th and last report on Shuswap Lake levels and snowpack for 2026.
In our last update we reported that Shuswap lake levels reached their annual peak on June 6th, about 3-4 weeks earlier than normal. Since that date, the level of the lake has declined steadily to is current level, measured at Blind Bay by the Water Survey of Canada, to 346.898 meters.
All four snowpack recording stations in the drainage, north of Celista, near Enderby, at Park Mountain near Lumby and at Silver Star Mountain near Vernon now all show that there is no snowpack remaining.
As we have reported previously, The Provincial River Forecast Centre uses a watershed model to estimate river flow and lake levels across the province. These estimates are released daily during the work week and show the expected trend in the level of Shuswap Lake looking ten days into the future. The current estimates show that the lake level should continue to decrease over the next ten days. Given this information, unless there is a protracted period of rain, we expect the lake levels to continue to decrease over the summer and into the fall.
We have received questions as to whether this trend could be indicative of a record low for this time of year. The answer is no it is not a record although the levels are within the lower quartile of recorded values over the years. However, as you will no doubt have heard in the press, we are in a continuing level of drought in the watershed so please be careful.
We hope you have a good summer. Our next briefing will be in the fall as we look at lake levels going into the winter.