15 replies to this topic

[Bingo]

One of the largest lakes on Vancouver Island is Lake Cowichan, and we are hearing more about the lake than in years before, due to lower water levels.

These could be caused by less snow pack or a hotter than usual spring that causes the snow pack to melt earlier, sending water over the weir and down the river.

There is a need to balance water usage by the residents around the lake, and also feeding Catalyst mill operations in Crofton.

And there is some local opposition by residents to raising the weir as it will affect their waterfront properties.

 

Perhaps the solution would be to not raise the weir significantly, but to look at ways to hold back some of the water before it enters Lake Cowichan by way of damming a few of the creeks.

One location that could work is going upstream on SHAW CREEK and create a lake by building a dam to control the amount of water that is released.

This way you could hold back some of the spring meltwater or rainwater and release it to maintain a constant level at the weir at the east end of Cowichan Lake.

This will also improve the survival rate of Salmon that work their way upstream to spawn.

One could hope that future weather patterns would help the situation, but there is increasing evidence of global warming the could make future levels of the lake uncertain.  

 

http://www.cmnbc.ca/...watershed-atlas

 

http://www.cowichanw...ichan-watershed

 

http://www.cowichanv...tml?mobile=true

[Bingo]

An exciting and nerve wracking time has arrived on the Cowichan River, where biologists and First Nations who are counting the salmon are waiting for the chinook salmon to appear.

 

The Cowichan Tribes member is one of thousands who’s eyes are focussed on this indicator river, to see if the threatened chinook that should be showing up by now will materialize.

“Just wondering if we’re gonna have fish for years to come for my grandchildren right,” says Cowichan Tribes member Ramsay Alphonse.

So in partnership with the department of Fisheries and Oceans Ramsay Alphonse is up to his knees, trekking through the Cowichan River with sand bags to secure a fish fence that counts returning salmon and identifies them species by species, though few fish have appeared so far.

http://www.cheknews....owichan-220854/

 

[Bingo]

Lake Cowichan needs rain.

 

A sunny, dry, unseasonably warm day served as the backdrop for a critical turning point in the history of water management on the Cowichan River Thursday.

“Traditionally we’ve had rain in late August, early September that started to lift the lake up again so we would not be looking at low water like this at this time of year with the old weather pattern” said Cowichan Valley Regional District Board Chair Jon Lefebure.

However, three drought years in a row, and eight in the last 20 means the once accepted bare minimum water flow in the river of 7 cubic metres a second just for Catalyst to operate and fish survival was reduced to 4.5 at the end of May.

Now, just to keep the water flowing at that level 20 high volume pumps have been set up at the weir in Cowichan Lake.

http://www.cheknews....storage-224646/

 

 

 

[AllseeingEye]

This ecosystem is severely stressed and has been for several years; I fish the river and the watershed well in behind it all the way back to the Walbran regularly.

 

Diminished snowfall/snow-pack over several years inevitably takes a toll as do the longer, warmer and drier summers with their correspondingly reduced rainfall.There were sections of the river last year - normally 20+ meters wide and up to 2-4 meters deep - that were literally bone dry. This just doesn't impact a few weekend fishermen-warriors either; it potentially affects entire fish populations and the wildlife dependent on them, first nations, even tourism.

[Bingo]

This ecosystem is severely stressed and has been for several years; I fish the river and the watershed well in behind it all the way back to the Walbran regularly.

 

Diminished snowfall/snow-pack over several years inevitably takes a toll as do the longer, warmer and drier summers with their correspondingly reduced rainfall.There were sections of the river last year - normally 20+ meters wide and up to 2-4 meters deep - that were literally bone dry. This just doesn't impact a few weekend fishermen-warriors either; it potentially affects entire fish populations and the wildlife dependent on them, first nations, even tourism.

 

Catalyst needs to build a desalination plant near Crofton to supply their needs, instead of putting pressure on the Cowichan Valley watershed.

[AllseeingEye]

Catalyst needs to build a desalination plant near Crofton to supply their needs, instead of putting pressure on the Cowichan Valley watershed.

I agree at least to the extent they need to do something creative that meets the water needs of all. The current "push-pull' solution worked to the extent that it did back in the days before the climate clearly began to shift. However less snow-pack and rain, and drier conditions in all likelihood are trends that will continue if go-forward climate models are even close to being accurate - as will the stress on the system unless someone comes up with a creative solution.

[VicHockeyFan]

Catalyst needs to build a desalination plant near Crofton to supply their needs, instead of putting pressure on the Cowichan Valley watershed.

 

Well, that would simply not be economical.

[Bingo]

Well, that would simply not be economical.

 

Catalyst has just spent $500,000 for pumps that they might not use, and to raise the weir could cost up to $15 million, so a desalination plant might be a better cost saving measure.

 

http://www.cheknews....storage-224646/

[VicHockeyFan]

Catalyst has just spent $500,000 for pumps that they might not use, and to raise the weir could cost up to $15 million, so a desalination plant might be a better cost saving measure.

 

http://www.cheknews....storage-224646/

 

You know how much a desalination plans costs, per litre of water?

[Bingo]

You know how much a desalination plans costs, per litre of water?

 

No, but I know that people pay more for a litre of bottled water than they do for a litre of gas.

[Bingo]

There are two ways to think about the cost of desalination: the cost of a desalination plant, and the cost of water.

A typical large scale desalination plant produces 100,000 cubic meters of water per day. Assuming a per capita consumption of 300 liters per day, this equates to 300,000 people. The installed cost of desalination plants is approximately $1m for every 1,000 cubic meters per day of installed capacity. Therefore, a large scale desalination plant serving 300,000 people typically costs in the region of $100 million. The costs of infrastructure to distribute water must be added to this.

The cost of desalinated water, the majority of which is accounted for by plant capital costs and energy costs, is typically in the range of $0.5 to $3 per cubic meter of water (0.05-0.3 dollar cents per liter of water). The lower end of the scale corresponds to regions where electricity costs are low (e.g. Middle East) and the higher end to regions where electricity costs are high (e.g. Australia, where electricity is sometimes mandated to be from renewable energy).

https://www.quora.co...tion-plant-cost

 

[VicHockeyFan]

No, but I know that people pay more for a litre of bottled water than they do for a litre of gas.

 

The mill uses 34 million gallons per day.

[Bingo]

The mill uses 34 million gallons per day.

Catalyst personnel also worked hard through the summer and early fall to reduce fresh water use in mill processes and to replace it with sea water where practical.

http://www.catalystp...sr_webready.pdf

 

The total water extraction by the Catalyst Paper Mill from Cowichan River currently averages an alleged 34 Million gallons per day. “Alleged” because the water extracted from the river is not measured at the intake close to the Cowichan District Hospital but rather at the outflow pipe at the pulp mill prior to the used water entering the primary treatment plant. It is unknown how much water is lost through an outdated and leaking pipe system inside the mill. The 34 Million gallons of water used by the mill are discharged daily into the ocean without being recycled as required by pulp mills in Europe and other countries which recycle their water up to 20 times. This waste of water by the mill results in a net loss of 34 Million gallons of prime water daily from the lower part of the Cowichan River, water which is needed most in summer and early fall during the salmon run, and water that is essential for the survival of the Cowichan Estuary salt marshes.

http://www.cowichane...er-for-granted/

[Bingo]

The fish will be happy to see the rain that is predicted to continue all day at Lake Cowichan, and when fish are happy so are the anglers. 

[Bingo]

Water is going over the weir.

http://cvrdnewnormal...han-lake-graph/

[Bingo]

A woman in her early 50s has died after falling into the rapids on a dangerous stretch of the Cowichan River on Saturday.

The woman was tubing with friends when she passed the “pull-out” zone and entered the rough water near Horseshoe Bend and Marie Canyon, said RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Janelle Shoihet. The woman tried to make it to the river bank, but fell off her tube and became trapped under the fast-flowing water.

http://www.timescolo...iver-1.21045136