Oxbows form naturally when a horseshoe bend in a meandering river is cut off from the main river at the narrow end of the bend. Oxbows can also be formed artificially when a meandering river is straightened to facilitate navigation or to control flooding. Oxbows have formed in several locations along the Okanagan River, most notably in the area between Okanagan and Skaha lakes, and in the Osoyoos Lake area, both from natural processes and as a result of the channelization of the Okanagan River.

The channelization of the river was the result of a federal/provincial initiative to manage floods in the Okanagan Valley.That initiative included numerous dams, weirs and sediment catchments in the valley bottom and on tributary streams throughout the basin. In addition to flood control, the initiative provided opportunities for irrigation for agriculture, provided more land and water for urban and industrial development, and provided for increasing water-oriented tourism.

Although it was not likely fully appreciated at the time, there were significant impacts to fish and migratory birds from river channelization. Feeding, breeding and migration staging habitats were altered and much reduced. Subsequent growth in agriculture, industry and urban development compounded those impacts. What we call the Penticton oxbows are all that remains of the once meandering Okanagan River and the adjacent extensive wetlands between the two lakes.

The Penticton oxbows still have value as wildlife habitat, however, especially considering how much wetland habitat has been lost in the Okanagan Valley since settlement. Presently, however, the Penticton oxbows are showing the accumulated impacts of neglect and abuse. In addition to sedimentation caused by stormwater flows into some oxbows, ongoing impacts of stagnation from reduced water flows, the presence of introduced invasive plants and animals, the removal of vegetation, and a concentration of natural and human debris are apparent. The meanders and adjacent wetlands that were once important areas for fish and wildlife have been reduced to marginal wetland habitats that are in great need of protection and rejuvenation.