Despite still cool nights, the spring freshet is beginning. It will be a couple of months at least before the higher elevations begin to run off, but lower elevation creeks are beginning to run faster.
Marysville residents, who are usually supplied with water by the Matthew Creek system, have been switched over to Mark Creek water since mid-March as turbidity levels in Matthew Creek begin to rise.
Turbidity is a water quality term that refers to the relative clarity of water. Turbidity occurs when fine suspended particles of clay, silt, organic and inorganic matter, plankton, and other microscopic organisms are picked up by water as it passes through a watershed.
The City of Kimberley staff monitor turbidity daily, and right now, Mark Creek is in the ‘Good’ range (below 1 NTU and Matthew Creek in the “Good” to “Fair” range (between 1 and 5 NTU).
Some areas of Marysville, mostly on the St. Mary Lake Road, are not switched to the Mark Creek water system and they are now under a Water Quality Advisory.
The water supply for Kimberley Golf Course, Riverside Campground, River Bend Lane, River Bend Road, River Ridge Way, Tamarack Lane and Sunflower Drive is under such an advisory.
This is not a Boil Water Notice. An advisory means Interior Health is recommending that children, the elderly and persons with weakened immune systems drink boiled water when turbidity levels are above 1 NTU.
You can keep up with turbidity readings in both watersheds on the City website, kimberley.ca.