All water bodies closed in Kootenay and Yoho national parks

Parks Canada is closing all bodies of water in British Columbia’s Kootenay and Yoho national parks, and restricting watercraft in Alberta’s Waterton Lakes National Park, in an effort to slow the spread of invasive species.

The lakes, creeks and tributaries in eastern British Columbia will be closed until at least March next year in response to the deadly whirling disease parasite found in fish.

At the same time, non-motorized watercraft from outside park boundaries will not be allowed into Waterton Lakes National Park in southern Alberta, to protect against both whirling disease and invasive zebra and quagga mussels.

This is an extension and expansion of a closure first put into place in October 2023.