Overview
- Satellite imagery from July 21 confirmed a tree‑covered floating mass roughly 9,800 square metres in Williston Reservoir.
- By Aug. 5 the object had disappeared from updated satellite images and BC Hydro says it may have drifted into a sheltered cove rather than sunk.
- Officials say the most likely cause is decades of accumulated driftwood and rooted shoreline material that broke free when unusually high reservoir levels rose after heavy snow and rain.
- Local boaters reported other large root balls and chunks of shoreline floating in the lake, and BC Hydro warns that floating and submerged debris can seriously damage boats.
- Williston Reservoir is vast and at its highest level in 14 years, so BC Hydro is using aerial surveys, satellites and debris catchers to track hazards and protect dam channels and recreation areas.