Foxsea
Well-Known Member
The drought has already taken its toll on the Cowichan River and it is probably too late to save most of this year's returning chinook, said Gerald Thom, chairman of Cowichan Lake and River Stewardship Society. "I am not being alarmist. If we don't get rain in the next three weeks, the Cowichan could run dry."
That could mean temporarily closing the Catalyst Pulp and Paper Mill in Crofton - with about 600 employees - an unknown effect on drinking water for communities that rely on the aquifer under the river, such as Duncan, North Cowichan and Cowichan Tribes, and no dilution of treated sewage pumped into the river, which could lead to health concerns, said Rob Hutchins, Cowichan Valley Regional District chairman. "We are praying for rain," he said.
About three days of steady rain are needed to bring up levels and persuade chinook salmon, now pooling in the estuary where they are providing a feast for sea lions, to move up the river, Thom said.
...
Anderson, former federal environment minister and a member of the Cowichan Watershed Advisory Board, is flabbergasted at the provincial response. "They messed up. They were given clear advice what to do and they just gambled that there would be a wet fall."
The ministry apparently gave in to a small group of lakeshore residents who did not want their beaches affected by a high lake water level, Anderson said.
"The result of that extraordinarily illogical decision is the present serious risk to trout and salmon populations," he said.
Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/Drough...ge+treatment/7336010/story.html#ixzz28FsoyaaD
That could mean temporarily closing the Catalyst Pulp and Paper Mill in Crofton - with about 600 employees - an unknown effect on drinking water for communities that rely on the aquifer under the river, such as Duncan, North Cowichan and Cowichan Tribes, and no dilution of treated sewage pumped into the river, which could lead to health concerns, said Rob Hutchins, Cowichan Valley Regional District chairman. "We are praying for rain," he said.
About three days of steady rain are needed to bring up levels and persuade chinook salmon, now pooling in the estuary where they are providing a feast for sea lions, to move up the river, Thom said.
...
Anderson, former federal environment minister and a member of the Cowichan Watershed Advisory Board, is flabbergasted at the provincial response. "They messed up. They were given clear advice what to do and they just gambled that there would be a wet fall."
The ministry apparently gave in to a small group of lakeshore residents who did not want their beaches affected by a high lake water level, Anderson said.
"The result of that extraordinarily illogical decision is the present serious risk to trout and salmon populations," he said.
Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/Drough...ge+treatment/7336010/story.html#ixzz28FsoyaaD
