World Water Day is an annual United Nations observance day held on the 22nd of March that highlights the importance of fresh water. The day is used to advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources and has been observed since 1993.
This year the Cowichan Lake and River Stewardship Society (CLRSS) and the Cowichan Watershed Board (CWB) are supporting World Water Day with FREE tours of the Cowichan Lake Weir. Discover how this vital structure supports the environment, regulates water flow, and protects fish population – and why it’s in need of an udate.
Where: Saywell Park in the Town of Lake Cowichan
When: Saturday, March 22. Tours at 10am, 11am and 12:30pm
The tour guides can help answer questions on how the weir works, provide information on the new weir design as well as collect any additional questions or concerns. Unfortunately, I will still be away and cannot participate. I encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity if you are availabe. Further information is available at both the CLRSS and CWB websites.
First let me re-introduce myself. I am a retired geotechnical engineer who came out of retirement to help manage this important project and I am pleased to be able to contribute. Born in Edmonton, but I grew up in Duncan and graduated from ‘Cow Hi’ many years ago. My wife and I have a house on Cowichan Lake since 1995 and understand the beauty and the opportunity such a privilege provides.
We have noticed the impact of climate change over the years with longer, hotter and dryer summers and how the river, and all that rely upon it, has had to endure extra low flows throughout many of the past summers. In 2023 the river suffered a catastrophic loss of an estimated 100,000 fish due to a combination of factors including low flows and high temperature. The long term health of the whole Cowichan River’s ecosystem is the main purpose of this project and continues to have the support to keep proceeding.
It’s been over two years since I provided any Project updates on this website. My role in the two aspects of the project (Weir Design and Shoreline Assessment – see links on this website) ended with those 2 projects in December of 2022. These were completed and have been helping to inform the next steps in the path forward to constructing a new weir.
Since 2022, many people have been working on what I would call the ‘softer’ aspects of the project. Those include funding, licensing, permitting, ownership and further government engagement. A ‘technical Working Group’ was been formed to work through these items with representatives from Cowichan Tribes, Cowichan Valley Regional District, Province of BC, and Domtar (formerly Paper Excellence), and the Cowichan Watershed Board (CWB). The CWB is playing a support, coordination and communications role, including bringing me back on board to help with that.
In the months ahead we expect to see information gaps closed, decisions made and a water license application put forward. Through this website, I will be providing you with my updates. Stay tuned. You can also find all the previous studies and information that were on this website here.
