Okanagan-Similkameen, Electoral Area I

Its land, ranked in BC

Shares of the land area, worked out from the Province's maps. Fire perimeters before the 1950s are less complete. A title or a past fire somewhere in the area says nothing about a given lot: a property report checks the parcel itself.

Large fires (1,000 ha or more) since 1990

Since 1990, 2 wildfires of 1,000 ha or more burned in Area I, together 5,817 ha, 16% of its land (ground that burned twice counts once). The most here was the Keremeos Creek wildfire in 2022, 5,283 ha.

1. 2023Upper Park Rill C… wildfire2,382 ha in all · 22% of it here535 ha here
2. 2022Keremeos Creek wildfire7,019 ha in all · 75% of it here5,283 ha here

Smaller mapped fires since 2016

Since 2016, the BC Wildfire Service mapped 7 smaller fires (under 1,000 ha) that reached Area I, newest first.

1. 2025Unnamed fire K504983.8 ha in all3.8 ha here
2. 2022Mount Hawthorne wildfire1.4 ha in all1.4 ha here
3. 2021Hedges Butte wildfire166 ha in all166 ha here
4. 2021Park Hill wildfire47 ha in all47 ha here
5. 2021Unnamed fire K501211.1 ha in all1.1 ha here
6. 2017Unnamed fire K505888 ha in all8 ha here
7. 2016Unnamed fire K501111 ha in all1 ha here

Small fires that were never mapped as a perimeter aren't listed: the BC Wildfire Service maps an outline for only some of the fires it records. Past fire is history, not a forecast. The chance of fire on a lot today depends on what the record doesn't show: the forest and grass around it, the slope, what has been thinned or burned since, and how far it is from a fire hall. Every BC season and large fire since 1990.

Sources: BC Wildfire Fire Perimeters – Historical, BC Wildfire Service; BC Wildfire Fire Perimeters – Current, BC Wildfire Service; BC Wildfire Fire Incident Locations – Historical, BC Wildfire Service; BC Wildfire Fire Locations – Current, BC Wildfire Service (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), as published on November 10, 2026; 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence). Outlines simplified and places measured by PlaceDossier.

How the land burned

On the Province's ecosystem map, Area I's land is 78% NDT4 (burned often and lightly, every 4 to 50 years), 22% NDT3 (burned in large fires about every 100 to 150 years) and under 1% NDT5 (alpine tundra and subalpine parkland). Its main biogeoclimatic zones are Interior Douglas-fir (48%), Ponderosa Pine (30%) and Montane Spruce (13%). In the dry forest and grassland of NDT4, a century of putting fires out has let many stands fill in, building up fuel that can carry a crown fire instead of a light surface fire. This is how the land burned before fires were put out, not its fire risk today. A report names the type over a lot. Every place's natural fire regime.

Source: BEC Map (biogeoclimatic zones and natural disturbance types), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), read 2026-10-12; areas worked out on the census boundaries.

Evacuations since April 2017

Since April 2017, the Province's record holds 2 wildfire events with an evacuation order or alert over Area I, 1 with an order. The latest order: Keremeos Creek Wildfire, July 2022.

1. 2023Upper Park Rill Wildfire - Electoral Area IAugust 2023 · evacuation alert · Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen9 homes
2. 2022Keremeos Creek WildfireJuly 2022 · evacuation order and alert · Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen423 homes

Listed when an order or alert area covered at least 5% of the land in Area I, or lay mostly in Area I and held at least 5% as many homes as the 2021 census counted there. An order means people were told to leave; an alert, to be ready to leave. Homes are the record's own counts, area by area, shown where the areas lie mostly in Area I. The Province's record starts in April 2017: earlier evacuations aren't in it. A lot's report checks every order and alert over the lot itself, and any in effect now.

Sources: Historical Orders and Alerts, Emergency Management and Climate Readiness (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), as published on November 2, 2026; 2021 census subdivision boundaries and dwelling counts, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence). Each order and alert area placed in the municipalities and electoral areas it covers by us.

Evacuations for floods, landslides and other hazards since April 2017

None of the flood, landslide or other non-fire evacuation orders or alerts in the Province's record since April 2017 covered 5% or more of the land or homes in Area I.

Sources: Historical Orders and Alerts, Emergency Management and Climate Readiness (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), as published on November 2, 2026; 2021 census subdivision boundaries and dwelling counts, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence). Each order and alert area placed in the municipalities and electoral areas it covers by us.

6 landslides are recorded inside Area I in the Preliminary Canadian Landslide Database (version 14.0), including 2 rock falls, 1 debris avalanche and 1 debris flow. The latest with a date of its own: a rock fall, 21 May 2023 (listed under “Green Lake Road rock fall”). The database lists slides known to have happened, mapped from inventories, satellite images and lidar. It isn't a hazard map, and some parts of BC are mapped in far more detail than others. Landslides near a given lot.

The Province maps about 4.9 km of dikes in Area I, along Okanagan River and Kalamalka Lake; the longest is the Okanagan Flood Control (Coldstream District) dike. All of it is orphaned, with no local authority responsible. A dike lowers the chance of a flood behind it, not to nothing; a report names the dikes within 1 km of a lot and who maintains them. Dikes in BC, by place.

The Province lists 12 dams in Area I, 4 of them classed High or above for the harm a failure would do downstream: Farleigh Lake Dam (Very High), Turtle Rd. (Very High) and Marron Lake Dam (High) among them. Of these, 2 are recorded as breached (failed). The class rates what a failure would do, not how likely one is; a report names the dams within 1 km of a lot. Dams in BC, by place.

One Water Survey of Canada gauge in Area I has 5 or more years of yearly peak flows: Shatford Creek near Penticton peaked highest at 19.6 m³/s in 1986 (47 years on record). A gauge's record is the river where it stands, not a flood line; a report gives the nearest gauge on a river by the lot. River gauges in BC, by place.

Radon

In the Okanagan health region, 19 of the 109 homes tested (17%) in Health Canada's 2009–2011 survey were at or above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline; across BC, 143 of 1,817 (7.9%).

The survey tested about a hundred volunteer homes per health region, with one long-term test each. That gives a rough regional picture: it isn't a map, and a region where few or none tested high can still have homes above the guideline. The only way to know is to test the home: radon and buying a home in BC.

Source: Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011), Health Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Health Service Delivery Area Boundaries, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia).

Check one lot: has it burned? · is it on a floodplain map? · is it behind a dike? · is there a dam nearby? · landslides nearby? · contaminated sites nearby? · radon? · how much is too steep?

Source: Agricultural Land Reserve polygons, Agricultural Land Commission (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Fire perimeters – historical, BC Wildfire Service (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Mineral, placer and coal tenures, Mineral Titles Branch (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Preliminary Canadian Landslide Database, version 14.0 (May 2026), Brideau et al. (CC BY 4.0); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).

The Province's monitoring records hold groundwater samples from 2 wells in Area I, 2014 to 2023, among them 2 of the Province's observation wells. The median passed Health Canada's limit for manganese (1 well). A report names the nearest sampled wells within 10 km of a lot. A neighbouring well isn't your water: test your own. What BC's well water tests for, by place.

Mapped aquifers

6 mapped aquifers lie in Area I, most wells first.

1. 1Aquifer 260: Marron Valley northwest of Okanagan Fallsfractured crystalline bedrock78 wells · moderate productivity
2. 2Aquifer 261: Marron Valley northwest of Okanagan Fallsunconfined sand and gravel (late glacial outwash)40 wells · moderate productivity
3. 3Aquifer 1109: Willowbrookfractured crystalline bedrock14 wells · low productivity
4. 4Aquifer 262: White Lake Basin 35 km south of Pentictonunconfined sand and gravel (late glacial outwash)13 wells · high productivity
5. 5Aquifer 1107: Grand Oro Road, south of Twin Lakesunconfined sand and gravel (alluvial or colluvial fan)7 wells · moderate productivity
6. 6Aquifer 266: Stafford Creek southwest of Pentictonconfined sand and gravel (glacial)5 wells · high productivity

An aquifer is listed for each place that holds at least a twentieth of it, so a sliver of one at the edge can be left out. Wells and productivity are for the whole aquifer, which can reach well beyond Area I. The province maps aquifers mostly in settled valleys, so a lot outside every outline can still have groundwater. Every mapped aquifer in BC · sampled lakes.

Sampled lakes

4 sampled lakes lie in Area I (one only partly), largest first.

1. 1Skaha Lake20 km² · 63% of it hereclarity 6.0 m (2012–2025)
2. 2Twin Lakes29 hatoo few readings to judge
3. 3Mahoney Lake18.1 hatoo few readings to judge
4. 4Green Lake (Okanagan River watershed)13.4 hatoo few readings to judge

A lake is listed for each place that holds at least a twentieth of it or 100 ha of it. Clarity is the median summer Secchi depth; the nutrient class is our reading of Carlson's index from phosphorus or chlorophyll, not a provincial rating. Either is given only for a lake with at least 10 summer readings from open water, spread over at least 3 different years, since 2012. Most lakes have never been sampled, so a lake missing here may simply have no record. Every sampled lake in BC.

Source: Groundwater wells (GWELLS), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Ground Water Aquifers, Water Protection and Sustainability Branch, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); BC Environmental Monitoring Data System (EnMoDS) results, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).

Normals for 1991-2020 at the Penticton Airport station, about 8 km from Kaleden (of the communities here with a station within 30 km, the one with the most addresses). * Based on at least 25, 20 or 15 of the 30 years, short of the World Meteorological Organization's standard: treat as a rougher guide. The records are single days measured at the station: the most rain, snow and wind it saw in 1991-2020. Each is one event, not what to expect in a year, and the lot can get more or less than the station. Elevation matters a lot in BC: a hillside lot can be much colder and snowier than the station.

Plant hardiness zone: most homes here are in zone 3b (37%); 30% are in 6b, 15% are in 5a, 11% are in 6a, on Natural Resources Canada's 2025 map. Higher numbers are milder winters. What the zones mean.

Solar panels: a south-facing panel tilted at the latitude would make about 1,080 kWh a year for each kW of panels at Kaleden, about 36 of it in December (estimated from Natural Resources Canada's 1998-2022 sunshine map). An open sky is assumed: the hills, trees and buildings around a lot cut it, and a report sets the lot's own skyline beside it. What solar panels would make in BC.

By the 2050s (2041-2070) at Kaleden, climate models project about 22 more days over 30 °C a year, a longest frost-free run about 35 days longer and about 16 percentage points less of winter's precipitation falling as snow, each against the same models' 1971-2000 (model projections under SSP2-4.5, a middle path for emissions). The models work on a grid of about 9 by 6 km, which averages valley floors with the slopes around them, so their own figures can sit well off a station's normals and aren't comparable with them. Their own figures there: about 37 days over 30 °C a year in 2041-2070 (range 31 to 61 across the models), against about 15 days in 1971-2000; a longest frost-free run of about 195 days (range 175 to 225), against about 160; and about 54% of winter's precipitation falling as snow (range 40% to 58%), against about 70%. The ranges run from the 10th to the 90th percentile of the models' 2041-2070 figures. The 2050s across BC.

Light at night within 1 km of Kaleden: faint, as around Wells or Lytton (our reading), and darker than about 90% of BC's homes (2024 satellite record). A lot away from the centre can be much darker. How dark are BC's nights?

Lightning: around Kaleden, a cloud-to-ground flash within 10 km on about 8 days a year and 0.14 flashes per km² a year, more than at 3 in 4 BC homes (the Canadian Lightning Detection Network, 1998-2025 average, on a grid of about 11 by 7 km).

Source: Canadian Climate Normals 1991-2020 and 1981-2010, Environment and Climate Change Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Plant hardiness zones of Canada (2025 map), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Medium Resolution Digital Elevation Model (MRDEM-30), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Solar position: General Solar Position Calculations (NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory; Spencer, 1971) (Public domain); Daily average solar irradiance on tilted surfaces for all of Canada (1998-2022), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Photovoltaic Potential and Solar Resource Maps of Canada (performance ratio), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Statistically downscaled climate indices from CMIP6 global climate models (CanDCS-M6), Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium, via the Canadian Centre for Climate Services (Open Government Licence – Canada); VIIRS Nighttime Lights, 2024 annual composite, Earth Observation Group, Payne Institute for Public Policy, Colorado School of Mines (Elvidge et al. 2021, Remote Sensing 13(5):922), via Hengl, OpenGeoHub, Zenodo doi 10.5281/zenodo.7750174 (CC BY 4.0); Canadian Lightning Detection Network cloud-to-ground flashes (CanCPLDv1), Environment and Climate Change Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada).

The BC Energy Regulator maps about 21 km of active oil and gas pipeline in Area I, permitted to FortisBC Energy Inc. A report lists any pipeline within 200 m of a lot, and flags one within 30 m, where digging needs the permit holder's agreement. Pipelines in BC, by place.

The Province lists one active waste discharge authorization in Area I (sewage treatment or discharge site). It may discharge effluent to water or land. A report lists any within 2 km of a lot, and flags one whose point is on it. Permitted discharges in BC, by place.

The Province maps no open gravel pit or quarry in Area I, but one open mineral exploration or mine permit area. A report lists the permits within 2 km of a lot, names an open pit or quarry within 500 m and flags one whose permit area takes in the lot. Gravel pits and mine permits in BC, by place.

On ParcelMap BC, the land in Area I is 23% private, 11% Crown land with a parcel drawn (9% with no title), 5% federal; no parcel is mapped over 60%, likely most of it untitled Crown land, with lakes and road allowances. A report says who owns the land along a lot's line. Crown land next to a property, and every place's land by owner.

The Ministry of Forests maps 9 active Crown range tenures (9 grazing) reaching into Area I, over 64% of its area, licensed for about 13,229 animal unit months of grazing a year in all. Outside a pound district, keeping livestock off a lot is the owner's fence to build. A report lists any tenure within 1 km of a lot. Open range and grazing in BC, by place.

The Province maps 5 registered traplines over nearly all of the area and 4 guide outfitter territories over 72% in Area I. The maps are drawn over titled land too, but traplines are registered on Crown land: on titled land, anyone but the owner or occupier needs their written permission to trap. A report says whether either takes in a lot. Traplines and guiding territories in BC, by place.

Area I lies in wildlife management units 8-8 (39%), 8-2 (34%), 8-1 (25%): the Hunting and Trapping Regulations Synopsis sets seasons and closed areas by unit. Hunting and shooting on your own property.

BC Parks maps 3 parks and protected areas (Brent Mountain Protected Area; Mahoney Lake Ecological Reserve; and White Lake Grasslands Protected Area) reaching into Area I, over 8% of its land. A report names the nearest park and recreation site within 25 km of a lot. Parks and recreation sites in BC, by place.

Check one lot: is there a mineral claim? · power lines nearby? · pipelines nearby? · a gravel pit nearby? · a landfill or plant nearby? · logging planned nearby? · cattle on open range? · is there a trapline? · can I hunt on it? · a park nearby? · Crown land next door?

Source: Mineral, placer and coal tenures, Mineral Titles Branch (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).

Census figures are from 2021; the next census results start in 2027. Area boundaries are Statistics Canada's census subdivisions, which follow municipal and electoral area lines. The places named at the top are the official place names in the area (BC Geographical Names) with the most 2021 homes nearer them than any other name, on ISED's home points: our reading.

Source: Census of Population 2021, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence); BC Geographical Names, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Pseudo-Household Demographic Distribution (2021), Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada).