{"id":17538,"date":"2025-07-23T08:27:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T08:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/17538\/"},"modified":"2025-07-23T08:27:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T08:27:10","slug":"okanagans-jewel-deemed-deadliest-lake-in-b-c-prompting-safety-reminder-okanagan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/17538\/","title":{"rendered":"Okanagan\u2019s \u2018jewel\u2019 deemed deadliest lake in B.C., prompting safety reminder – Okanagan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Okanagan Lake is a huge draw for locals and visitors alike.<\/p>\n

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Often referred to as the \u2018jewel\u2019 of the Okanagan, the lake offers opportunities for all sorts of water activities, including swimming, boating and paddling.<\/p>\n

However, the popular lake also has a dubious distinction.<\/p>\n

According to a new report by the B.C. Coroners Service, Okanagan Lake is the deadliest lake in the province.<\/p>\n

The report states that out of the 244 accidental lake drownings over the past decade, between 2014 and 2024, 28 have occurred in Okanagan Lake.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s too many,\u201d said Kelowna resident Brett Haney.<\/p>\n

Those 28 deaths are far higher than that of the second deadliest lake in B.C., Harrison Lake, which saw 12 people drown in the same time period.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThese numbers, they\u2019re staggering and they are really tragic,\u201d said Brian Twaites, paramedic public information officer with B.C. Emergency Health Services.<\/p>\n

The report also stated that 261 people unintentionally drowned in rivers and creeks across the province in the last 10 years, with the Fraser River claiming the most lives at 53.<\/p>\n

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According to the Coroners Service, the vast majority of drownings in any type of body of water involved males \u2014 735 males compared to 200 females.<\/p>\n

The report also revealed that the use of alcohol and\/or drugs contributed to 40 per cent of the drowning deaths.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only swimming, but water activities, paddle boarding, out on a boat,\u00a0 just floating around \u2014 all of that stuff when incorporated with any form of alcohol use or substance use can really put you at a higher risk for drowning,\u201d Twaites said.<\/p>\n

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Twaites said that many drowning deaths are preventable, adding that precautions can help reduce the chances of drowning.<\/p>\n

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One of the key protective measures is the use of life jackets of PFDs (personal flotation devices).<\/p>\n

\u201cThey really do save lives,\u201d Twaites said. \u201cMake sure you\u2019ve got a life jacket or a PFD with you and that you\u2019re wearing it, not that it\u2019s just on the boat, that you have it somewhere with you. I\u2019ve seen people out on paddle boards,\u00a0 they\u2019ve just got a life jacket strapped to the end of the paddle board and that\u2019s not going to really do them much good if something happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

While troubling, it\u2019s hoped the report serves as a reminder, during national drowning prevention week, to always make water safety a priority.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople sometimes are caught up in the moment and they are having fun and don\u2019t think about it and these unfortunate tragedies can happen in a matter of seconds,\u201d Twaites said.<\/p>\n

For more information on water safety, you can go to the B.C. and Yukon branch of the Lifesaving Society<\/a> website.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t&copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Okanagan Lake is a huge draw for locals and visitors alike. Often referred to as the \u2018jewel\u2019 of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17539,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[15221,49,48,15222,2081,15220,44],"class_list":{"0":"post-17538","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-bc-coroners-service","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-central-okanagan","12":"tag-kelowna","13":"tag-national-drowning-prevention-week","14":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}