A watershed is an area of land that is drained by rivers and their tributaries into bodies of water – ponds, lakes, and ultimately, and in the case of the Cowichan Watershed, into the ocean. Think about the Cowichan Watershed, or your local creek, river or stream. Where does it start? What types of landscapes […]

Cowichan Lake is in the upper portion of the Cowichan Basin, at an elevation of 164 m. It has a surface area of 62 km2 (6,204 ha), is 31 km in length, with a perimeter of about 110 km. Its average depth is 50 m and its maximum depth is 152 m. For the most […]

The Cowichan Watershed is home to many fish species. This is a function of both the size of the watershed and its incredible ecological richness as habitat and in terms of nutrients. The ecological health of the watershed is reflected in the health of its fish. It’s a mutual relationship. Healthy fish make a healthy […]

The Cowichan Estuary is one of the most important estuaries in British Columbia from an ecological perspective. It is habitat for up to 230 bird species, and rearing habitat for four salmon and three trout species. It has been the home to Cowichan Tribes for millenia, and to thousands of other people in more recent […]

Somenos Lake and Quamichan Lake are sister lakes in the Cowichan Watershed. Both lakes were formed when glaciers receded 11,000 years ago; both are shallow (seven metres deep) and bowl-shaped; and both can be expected to fill in and disappear in the next few thousand years. At present, the two lakes share a common set of […]