#protectwatersheds — Public Fediverse posts

#CowichanRiver - there's salmon swimming in it but you can't really see them in vid.
Backroads access.

This is a major part of the #TwinnedWatershedsProject - joining #Koksilah to #Cowichan & #Chemainus #watersheds.

Learn more about the Twinned Watersheds Project:
https://cowichanwatershedboard.ca/twinned-watershed

#BCRivers #RiversOfVancouverIsland #BCWatersheds #WaterIsLife #PacificNorthwest #BritishColumbia #Cascadia #PNW #ProtectWatersheds #Nature #Rivers #VancouverIsland #VanIsle #Streamkeepers

Mini cascading #waterfalls along #FellowsCreek - one of several tributaries that feed into the #KoksilahRiver. It's part of the Xwulqw’selu #Koksilah #Watershed on Southern #VancouverIsland.
Backroads access view. In Summer, it dries up in multiple areas.

Fellows Creek is part of the #TwinnedWatershedsProject, which is co-led by #CowichanWatershed Board, #CowichanTribes & #Halalt #FirstNation. It launched in 2021 to document the state of the watersheds & identify possibilities for improving their #ecological health. #Salmon are specifically being studied as part of this 5 year project because they are a #KeystoneSpecies that helps signal the health of a watershed.

The Xwulqw’selu & Chemainus watersheds are both located in the highly privatized, highly degraded landscape of southeast Vancouver Island & face similar issues. The #rivers and their #tributaries have been deeply impacted by land use & #ClimateChange. Unlike the neighbouring Quw’utsun (Cowichan) watershed, the Xwulqw’selu & Chemainus rivers have no lake to store water, which leaves them more vulnerable to drought & dangerously low flows.

Learn more about the Twinned Watersheds Project:
https://cowichanwatershedboard.ca/twinned-watershed

#BCWatersheds #WaterIsLife #PacificNorthwest #BritishColumbia #Cascadia #PNW #ecosystems #ProtectWatersheds #Nature #Streamkeepers #WaterMonitoring #WaterHealth #Environmental #WaterfallWednesday #Ecology #hydrology

#PatrolasCreek is a stream on #VancouverIsland near #ShawniganLake. Patrolas Creek is near the #Cowichan station & Theik Indian Reserve 2. This creek is part of the Cowichan #Koksilah #Watershed on South #VanIsle. This is the creek from backroads access.

#BCWatersheds #WaterIsLife #PacificNorthwest #BritishColumbia #Cascadia #PNW #ProtectWatersheds #Nature #Autumn #Streamkeepers #Conservation

The #KoksilahRiver, Xwulqw'selu Sta'lo', #Watershed is located south of Duncan on #VancouverIsland and lies within the traditional territories of #Cowichan Tribes, #Malahat Nation and other #FirstNations.

The #Koksilah River originates on the slopes of Waterloo Mountain, southwest of #ShawniganLake. It flows eastward for approximately 44 km before discharging into the Cowichan/Koksilah estuary. The watershed area is approximately 302 square kilometres. The main tributaries of the Koksilah River are Fellows Creek in the west, and Kelvin, Patrolas, Howie and Glenora creeks, which enter the Koksilah about 4-6 km upstream of the estuary in Cowichan Bay, which it shares with the Cowichan River.

The Cowichan and Koksilah #Rivers were historically connected through side-channels where Duncan is currently situated. #Shhwuykwselu (which translates loosely to “Busy Place”) was a historical connection and intersection between the two rivers where people gathered before continuing up the Cowichan or Koksilah rivers. Today the place name Sh-hwuykwselu is still carried by a small lower tributary of the Koksilah River, and the name #Xwulqwselu is the name of a Cowichan village nearby.

#BCRivers #RiversOfVancouverIsland #BCWatersheds #WaterIsLife #PacificNorthwest #BritishColumbia #Cascadia #PNW #ProtectWatersheds #Nature

Where do we go from here?

Unlike the Cowichan River, the #Koksilah is an uncontrolled #river with no storage and as such, there are limited options available to manage flows. The only options available to us are to change our current practices around #LandUse and #WaterUse. Most importantly, the #KoksilahRiver is challenging all of us to work together to collaboratively identify and implement solutions that will impact us all. New collaborations and partnerships are emerging.

An informal “Koksilah #DroughtManagement team” has been formed to discuss how to collaboratively make short term in-season decisions and work with water users to navigate periods of low flow. This ad-hoc group is comprised of representatives from #FLNRORD, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Cowichan Station’s Koksilah Working Group, BC Dairy Association, BC Agriculture Council, Cowichan Watershed Board, Farmland Advantage, Water Survey of Canada, Cowichan Estuary Nature Centre and private forestry representatives.

In the longer term, an innovative government to government partnership has been struck between Cowichan Tribes and the FNLRORD to explore and scope the feasibility of initiating a joint #WaterSustainability Planning process, an innovative new tool under #BCWaterSustainabilityAct (2016).

For more information about the potential of Water Sustainability Plans, see Curran, D. and O.M. Brandes. 2019 Water Sustainability Plans: Potential, Options and Essential Content (2019) by Deborah Curran and Oliver M. Brandes, University of Victoria Environmental Law Centre and the POLIS Project on Ecological Governance.

https://poliswaterproject.org/polis-research-publication/water-sustainability-plans/

"As one element in the modernized provincial water regime, Water Sustainability Plans are a promising tool that can enable and enhance adaptive water management and new governance relationships that express core elements of government-to-government relationships for water and watersheds, as well as address the challenges of environmental flows, sustainable groundwater management, drought planning and protecting and enhancing watershed health."

Deborah Curran & Oliver M. Brandes
Water Sustainability Plans: Potential, Options and Essential Content (2019)

#BackroadAdventures #VancouverIsland #water #river #Shawnigan #DayAdventure #DayTrip #PacificNorthwest #ProtectWatersheds #nature #VanIsle #Cascadia #PNW #NaturesPower #WaterIsLife #ProtectWatersheds #ProtectNature #Hydro #RiversOfBC #RiversOfVancouverIsland #Indigenous #FirstNations #Historical #Cowichan #WaterFlow #RiverFlows #HydrologyManagement

What is clear is that the #KoksilahWatershed is experiencing erratic flow levels throughout the year which is #endangering the health of the entire #ecosystem. , It is also clear that impacts on the #watershed have been accentuated by #ClimateChange. With low elevation, the watershed is losing snow earlier and has more rain in the winter leading to more floods. The current trajectory of the #KoksilahRiver is dire and will impact everyone in the entire watershed.

" #GroundwaterExtraction has the most impact during low flow times of the year, when salmon depend on cooling groundwater inflows for their survival. If wells are drawing from shallow aquifers closely connected to the river, groundwater extraction will immediately reduce in-stream flows. In 2017, 2018 and 2019, in-stream flows in the Koksilah were forecast to become dangerously low, and provincial managers requested voluntary reductions in water use. In each of these years, an order to cease water diversion was under preparation in case voluntary efforts were not enough. In August 2019, a Fish Population Protection Order was issued under the Water Sustainability Act"

Gower, T. & arroso, A.
Tapped Out: A Special Report on Water Scarcity and Water Solutions in British Columbia (2019)

#BackroadAdventures #VancouverIsland #water #river #Shawnigan #DayAdventure #DayTrip #PacificNorthwest #ProtectWatersheds #nature #VanIsle #Cascadia #PNW #NaturesPower #WaterIsLife #ProtectWatersheds #ProtectNature #Hydro #RiversOfBC #RiversOfVancouverIsland #Indigenous #FirstNations #Historical #Cowichan #BritishColumbia

This low elevation river without a regulation structure (dam) supports over 1,100 water users, including irrigators, dairies, vineyards, and domestic households. The #KoksilahRiver is especially valued for its:

#Cultural & #Spiritual significance: The Koksilah aka #Xwulqwselu #Watershed is central to the identity of the #QuwutsunMustimuhw. A prominent, multi-summit ridge named #Hwsaluutsum (formerly known as #Koksilah Ridge), is central to Quw'utsun Origin stories. Hwsalu-utsum is where the first man, #Syalutsa, fell from the sky. Hwsalu-utsum is the origin or headwaters of several tributaries that flow into the Xwulqw'selu Sta'lo' (Koksilah River); including Wild Deer Creek, Kelvin Creek and Glenora Creek. There are many #SacredPlaces and #CulturalStories associated with this ridge as well as across the entire watershed. On the southern slopes of Hwsalu-utsum the pockets of rare grasslands have important plants with both spiritual and practical uses. The #XwulqwseluWatershed is critically important not only spiritually and for its #OriginStories, but also as an important area for fishing, harvesting plants, and hunting.

#BackroadAdventures #VancouverIsland #water #river #Shawnigan #DayAdventure #DayTrip #PacificNorthwest #ProtectWatersheds #nature #VanIsle #Cascadia #PNW #NaturesPower #WaterIsLife #ProtectWatersheds #ProtectNature #Hydro #RiversOfBC #RiversOfVancouverIsland #Indigenous #FirstNations #Historical #Cowichan

Part of #KoksilahRiver / #Koksilah #Watershed on South Vancouver Island.

Koksilah River - #XwulqwseluStalo Watershed is located south of #Duncan on Vancouver Island and lies within the traditional territories of #CowichanTribes, #MalahatNation and other #FirstNations.

The Koksilah River originates on the slopes of Waterloo Mountain, southwest of Shawnigan Lake. It flows eastward for approximately 44 km before discharging into the Cowichan/Koksilah estuary. The watershed area is approximately 302 square kilometres. The main tributaries of the Koksilah River are Fellows Creek in the west, and Kelvin, Patrolas, Howie and Glenora creeks, which enter the Koksilah about 4-6 km upstream of the estuary in Cowichan Bay, which it shares with the Cowichan River.

The Cowichan and Koksilah Rivers were historically connected through side-channels where Duncan is currently situated. #Shhwuykwselu (which translates loosely to “Busy Place”) was a #historical connection and intersection between the two rivers where people gathered before continuing up the Cowichan or Koksilah rivers. Today the place name Sh-hwuykwselu is still carried by a small lower tributary of the Koksilah River, and the name #Xwulqwselu is the name of a Cowichan village nearby.

#BackroadAdventures #VancouverIsland #water #river #Shawnigan #DayAdventure #DayTrip #PacificNorthwest #ProtectWatersheds #nature #VanIsle #Cascadia #PNW #NaturesPower #WaterIsLife #ProtectWatersheds #ProtectNature #Hydro #RiversOfBC #RiversOfVancouverIsland

The #CowichanRiver #estuary is one of the largest & most important in #BritishColumbia. The #watershed drains 90,000 hectares & provides #CriticalHabitat to dozens of #fish species, including #steelhead, #Chinook, #chum, #coho & #PinkSalmon, as well as brown, #cutthroat & #RainbowTrout. But the #Cowichan’s troubles are by no means unique; they are a #CaseStudy for a much larger problem.

#TimberCompanies store #LogBooms all along the #BCcoast, says Jamieson Atkinson, a fish #biologist & program manager for the #Aquatic #Research & #Restoration Centre at #BritishColumbiaConservationFoundation. “It’s shocking.” While #estuaries make up less than 3% of British Columbia’s coast, they provide rich #habitat for 80% of the province’s coastal #wildlife. The #FraserRiver estuary, near #Vancouver on the mainland, supports more than 300 species of #birds & 80 species of fish & #shellfish for at least part of their life cycles.

https://thetyee.ca/News/2024/07/05/Estuary-Marine-Life-Smothered-Timber-Industrial-Log-Booms

@thetyee

#BCpoli #environmental #WildFirst #ProtectNature #ProtectWildlife #Ecological #ecosystems #Conservation #VancouverIsland #WildSalmonAlliance #ProtectWatersheds #StopEcocide #NatureFirst #VanIsle #Nature #BCNDP #BCNewDeathParty #CorporateGreed #GreedKills #PacificNorthwest #WildlifeConservation #HabitatRestoration #ProtectNature #DefendNature #PNW #IndustrialPollution #BanCorporateLobbyists