KAMLOOPS THIS WEEK TUESDAY
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JULY 21, 2015 | Volume 28 No. 87
TODAY’S WEATHER
Sunny, cooler High 26 C Low 14 C
NEW DETOUR COMING
ONE WIN FROM THE LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP
Bridge work closes off-ramp
Kamloops Venom can claim title tonight in Vernon
A3
A15
View on the drought: ‘It’s scary’ CAM FORTEMS STAFF REPORTER cam@kamloopsthisweek.com
ALLEN DOUGLAS/KTW After a long delay in starting, Slide the City participants finally — and slowly — made their way down Hillside Drive on Saturday.
Slide the City had a bumpy first ride ANDREA KLASSEN
STAFF REPORTER
andrea@kamloopsthisweek.com
It wasn’t exactly smooth sliding at this weekend’s Slide the City event, but Tim McLeod still believes the giant slip and slide could return to Kamloops. The event, which promised ticketholders access to a 1,000-foot slide down Hillside Drive, was plagued by several hours of delays, leaving hundreds of people waiting in line as staff and volunteers worked well past the planned start time to get the slide ready to go. McLeod, the development manager for Tranquille Farm Fresh, which helped bring the event to the city, said some of the issues
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arose because it was the first time the slide had been set up in B.C. “You have to have the B.C. Safety Authority see it in operation and actually approve it. Once they’ve seen it and approved it, you’re good to go,” he said. But, when the inspection took place, Slide the City staff were told to shorten the slide to slow the speeds sliders could reach. McLeod said he did not know how much shorter the final slide was. The event also struggled with power problems in the morning, causing pump and water issues. “That led to an hour-and-a-half to twohour delay in start-up and then it just snowballed because people came early,” McLeod said. “So, people come an hour early and
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then you’ve got a two-hour delay and now you’re in a three-hour line up.” Safety issues also got in the way of plans for a kids’ zone during the event. McLeod said the operator of three bouncy castles, which was to make up the majority of the kid-friendly space, didn’t receive a required safety document and wasn’t able to set up. By the afternoon, he said, sliders seemed to be moving at a better clip, with lineups of as little as 30 minutes to reach the top of the slide and fewer complaints. While Twitter and KTW’s Facebook page recorded numerous people with complaints, there were some kudos included. “I’ve heard equally from people who said what a great time they had,” he said. See UTAH-BASED, A12
Interior ranchers and farmers have an eye on the sky looking for rain as continued drought conditions threaten to bring tougher conservation measures. “It’s the lowest I’ve seen in the 15 years I’ve been farming here,” farmer and Thompson-Nicola Regional District director Steve Rice said of the Nicola River near Spences Bridge. Rice said he can walk across the river noting the flow barely covers the intake for his farm irrigation. “It’s scary,” he said. The Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD) has declared a Level 4 drought, the highest, in parts of the Nicola Valley and in the Spences Bridge and Fraser Canyon areas. Closer to home, at Chase Creek, agricultural users are on an odd-even day system, similar to that used in municipalities, including Kamloops. “We’re saving up to 50 per cent of the water,” said Peter Murray, who operates a corn farm west of Chase and is a trustee on the Chase Irrigation District. “We’re not short yet.” Most of B.C. is amid Level 3 or 4 drought conditions, with river levels and temperatures typically seen in late August. While ranchers are largely coping so far, Kevin Boon, general manager of B.C. Cattlemen’s Association, said the drought will likely curb any growth in the provincial herd. While cattle prices are again reaching new highs, lack of range and feed make expansion difficult. Rangeland grasses are stressed from lack of moisture and, particularly, sustained high temperatures. The likelihood is ranchers will have to supplement their livestock with outside feed when Crown grazing ends prematurely. See HAY, A7
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