Wood Lake waterfront homes, Lake Country, BC

In the District of Lake Country, BC, between Winfield at the south end and Oyama at the north end. Pelmewash Parkway follows its west side from Winfield to Oyama.

Kalamalka Lake lies just north of it. A boat launched on Wood Lake reaches Kalamalka through the channel at the Oyama isthmus.¹

The District lists Oyama at the north end, and Reiswig Regional Park and Beasley Park at the south end. Pelmewash Park runs along the west shore with beach areas and a pathway.

The Oyama launch is the main public boat launch, with parking for 35 vehicles with trailers and 65 without. Pelmewash Parkway has a small motorized launch and hand launch spots, Bottom Wood Lake Road north of Woodsdale Road is hand launch only, and Turtle Bay Marina's launch is private and charges a fee.²

The Province owns nearly all freshwater foreshore in BC, so the beach below the lake's natural boundary is Crown land, not part of the lot.

A private dock must not block public access along the foreshore. Lake Country's bylaw adds that where a dock is raised more than 0.3 m above the public foreshore, it needs steps so people can walk over it.³

Yes, from the Province, because the dock sits on Crown land. A dock that meets every condition of the Province's General Permission needs no application; one that does not needs a Specific Permission, with a one-time $250 fee, or a lease. FrontCounter BC handles both.

Only one dock is allowed per property, and it also has to meet the District's bylaw, federal rules (Transport Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada) and the Water Sustainability Act.⁴

Lake Country's Zoning Bylaw allows a dock up to 40 m out from the natural boundary of the lot, with a walkway no wider than 3 m, set at least 3 m in from the side property line projected onto the foreshore.

An L or T shape is allowed if the part parallel to the shore is no longer than 10 m or half the lot's frontage, whichever is less. No beach houses, sheds, patios, sundecks or hot tubs on a dock, and no fill or dredging.⁵

No building closer than 7.5 m to the natural boundary of the lake, and the underside of the floor of any living space at least 393.2 m above sea level, the flood construction level the bylaw sets for Wood and Kalamalka lakes.

On a Wood Lake lot, anything more than 1.2 m above natural grade has to be sited so it keeps the neighbours' view of the lake: a 120 degree panorama from the corner of each adjoining house.

The Province's Riparian Areas Protection Regulation also covers the shore: its assessment area is a 30 m strip from the high water mark, and a qualified environmental professional's report comes before the District approves development there.⁶

Okanagan Lake is the big one, more than 135 km long, and Lake Country's shore on it runs through Okanagan Centre and Carr's Landing. Wood Lake and Kalamalka Lake share a flood construction level of 393.2 m; next to Okanagan Lake it is 343.66 m.

Kalamalka has no District launch of its own in Lake Country; boats reach it from Wood Lake through the Oyama channel. The same dock and view rules apply on all three lakes.

On any of them the District asks boaters to keep wakes low in shallow water and reach water deeper than 8 m before making a large wake.⁷

Two. On the west side, a paved pathway follows Pelmewash Parkway from Winfield to Oyama, joining the Okanagan Rail Trail at the north end and Pretty Road at the south end.

The Okanagan Rail Trail runs along the east shore of Wood Lake on its way between Kelowna and Coldstream, and the Oyama launch is one of its main access points.⁸