Hi all.
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.
You can now reach us at email weir.here@cowichanwatershedboard.ca
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.
