A drier than usual January has seen water levels in Cowichan Lake drop significantly.
Brian Houle, the environment manager at the Catalyst Crofton mill which owns and operates the weir at Lake Cowichan, said that as of Feb. 6, the lake was 46 per cent full, with river flows from the lake in the Cowichan River at just under 25 centimetres. But he said it’s hoped the snowstorm that hit the region in the first days of February will help rebuild the snow pack in the mountains around the lake that was lost in January.
“While there is still time to refill the lake and build a lot more snow pack in the mountains, we need precipitation for that to happen,” Houle said.
“The weather forecast shows cold and dry for the next 14 days (Feb. 7-21). Following from a very successful 2024 dry season, when lake level supported seven centimetre (flows out of the lake) all summer, no evident fish kill in the (Cowichan River) and no need for pumps in the fall, 2025 plans will be reviewed with regulators (in early February)”.
Houle said he will continue to provide updates on the watershed as April 1, when weir operations would begin again, approaches. The severe drought that struck the region in the summer of 2023 lowered water levels in the Cowichan River dramatically, and resulted in the deaths of approximately 84,000 fish in the river.
Catalyst had to use 20 pumps for more than a month in September and October of that year to pump water over the weir to sustain water levels in the river.
That led to a new approach to managing water inventory in Cowichan Lake last year, and both provincial and federal fisheries are aligned on what actions will needed as the dry season of 2025 approaches.
