The Current Challenge

Summer flows in the Koksilah River have been exceptionally low in recent years at times when demand for water is the greatest. This threatens the survival of resident and anadromous salmonid species and the aquatic ecosystem.

In August 2019, Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNRORD) biologists determined that the flow levels were too low to support adequate habitat conditions. A Ministerial Order to cease using water was issued to specific water users (both surface and groundwater licensees and unlicensed groundwater users) to protect fish populations. The Order was issued on August 16th, 2019 and repealed on September 18th, 2019 when river flows increased.

Over the last number of years, FLNRORD staff, Cowichan Tribes, community members, organizations and consultants have undertaken several initiatives to better understand and encourage voluntary reductions in water use.  While these initiatives have improved awareness and our collective understanding of the complex hydrology of the system, the factors affecting the flow rates are still unclear.

There is a need to better understand the relationship between water users, watershed residents and the watershed.

What is clear is that the Koksilah watershed 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 climate change.  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 Koksilah River is dire and will impact everyone in the entire watershed.

… the flow of water in the Koksilah River has dropped below 180 litres per second and is so low that the survival of populations of anadromous and resident trout, including steelhead, in the stream have become threatened."

Doug Donaldson, Minister of Forest, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development

Ministerial Order M280, Aug 16, 2019.

Groundwater extraction 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. & Barroso, A. 
Tapped Out: A Special Report on Water Scarcity and Water Solutions in British Columbia (2019)

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 land use and water use.  Most importantly, the Koksilah River 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 drought management 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.  Please see the Koksilah Working Group’s webpage for more information on this process.

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 Water Sustainability Planning process, an innovative new tool under BC’s Water Sustainability Act (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.