Effective immediately, 10 Mile Bridge on Highway 8, 10 kilometres west of Merritt, has reopened to local traffic, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

People living either upstream or downstream from the Nicola Lake Dam are being advised to take precautions and prepare for high water levels.

An innovative project promoting co-leadership of water resources by the Province and the Nicola First Nations has a goal of sustainable management and improved health of the Nicola watershed.

Under the BC Rural Dividend Program special circumstances provision, the Government of British Columbia is providing $500,000 to the City of Merritt, Doug Donaldson, Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, announced today.

The Dry Gulch Bridge on the Coquihalla Highway is fully reopened to all lanes of traffic now that important rehabilitation work is substantially complete, extending the life of the structure and providing safer conditions for people who travel through the region.

Significant progress is being made to manage invasive plant species in the Thompson-Nicola region, as part of a $2.2-million pilot project that began this spring and will continue into 2020.

Roadside reflectors will be installed on Highway 97C, the Okanagan Connector, enhancing the delineation of the highway and providing better visibility of the road alignment both at night and in adverse conditions.

Increasing water levels will lead to more flooding this week along the Nicola Lake and river.

Residents along Nicola Lake are asked to take steps to protect their properties from localized flooding, expected to occur later this week.