Turns out the rocks along a stretch of Cedar Creek Park have taken on an orange tinge for perfectly natural reasons.
A spokesperson from the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy said the reddish-orange colour appearing on the rocks is a result of iron bacteria.
This type of iron bacteria precipitate happens frequently in the shallow water areas of local lakes.
As for the slimy film on the water around the rocks, that鈥檚 also a byproduct of nature and the life cycle of plants.
鈥淪ometimes there is also blue-green oil like streaking around the red precipitate that people assume is oil or gas dumped in the environment,鈥� said the spokesperson. 鈥淢ost of the time it鈥檚 not, the streaks are actually natural oils from decaying plant material. The key observation is odour, or in this case, no odour (i.e. there is no gas odour present).鈥�
It鈥檚 all noticeable because lake levels begin to drop this time of year and the snow melts off the foreshore, exposing the beaches.
READ MORE: HIGH FLOOD RISK
The reason for this year鈥檚 particularly low lake level is last year鈥檚 flooding.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been dropping the lake by half-a-centimetre per day,鈥� Shaun Reimer, section head for public safety and protection with the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations.
鈥淲hat we鈥檝e been doing is really trying to hit those target levels. We鈥檝e been manipulating the flow to continue to ensure that happens.鈥�
Currently, Okanagan Lake is 40 centimetres lower than this time last year, Reimer said.
At the same time, the snowpack is at record levels.
鈥淭he Okanagan is at 152 per cent. It鈥檚 the highest of any basing alongside the Similkameen,鈥� said Jonathan Boyd, River Forecast Centre hydrologist.
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