It looks like the massive fish kill that killed around 84,000 fish of various species in the drought-stricken Cowichan River near Skutz Falls last summer will not be repeated this year.

Brian Houle, environmental manager for Catalyst Crofton steel mill, which owns and operates the weir on Lake Cowichan, said in his most recent catchment update on Aug. 7 that there have been no reports of dead fish in the Cowichan River so far this summer.

He said the peak of the summer heat is almost over and in a short time the weather is likely to become cooler, temperatures will drop and nights will get longer. Problems related to the drought, which many fish managers and biologists believe is linked to the fish kills last July, should lessen as fall approaches.

This year, volunteers have continued to monitor the river closely to find stranded fish and prevent further large-scale fish kills. In one case in April, stranded fry were spotted near Stoltz Pool. Volunteers were soon on site and helped move the hatchlings from the drying creek beds back to the main stream of the river.

Catalyst had to use 20 pumps for over a month in September and October last year to pump water over the weir to maintain the river’s water level, which at the time of the fish kill was only flowing at a very low rate of about 4.5 cubic metres per second.

This led to a new approach to managing water resources in Cowichan Lake this year, and provincial and federal fisheries authorities agreed on the actions needed.
It was decided that a slower flow of water over the weir of around 15 cubic metres per second, significantly less than in previous years, should be introduced during the spring months to retain more water in the lake that could be used to keep the river level higher without the use of pumps this summer. This would be the aim by June 15th when a river flow of seven centimetres would begin.

“We are now at a stable amount of 2.75 inches being discharged from the lake into the river,” Houle said on August 7.