Cowichan Watershed Board

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • YouTube
MENUMENU
  • About
    • Indigenous Co-governance
    • Our Principles
    • Board Members
    • Staff Team
    • Non-Profit Society
    • Supporters (Coming Soon)
    • Contact Us
  • Targets
    • Water Quality
    • Estuary Health
    • Salmon Sustainability
    • Wise Water Use
    • Watershed IQ
    • Water Flows
    • Riparian Plants
    • Target Working Groups
  • Projects
    • River Cleanup
    • Koksilah
    • Twinned Watersheds Project
      • Riparian Plants
      • Indigenous Flows
      • Fish Habitats
      • Big Dancing Fish
    • Weir Ready
      • Weir Ready FAQ
    • Speakers Series
    • Past Projects (Coming Soon)
      • Water Challenge (Coming Soon)
      • Superheroes (Coming Soon)
  • Library
    • Board Meetings
    • Governance Documents
    • Maps
    • Media
    • Presentations
    • Videos
    • Reports
      • CWB Reports
      • Other Reports
    • All Library Items
  • Latest News
You are here: Home / Officials investigating deaths of thousands of young coho

Officials investigating deaths of thousands of young coho

By Peter Rusland, Cowichan News Leader Pictorial, September 09, 2011

Three salmon kills around Duncan’s Fish Gut Alley this summer are being probed by all levels of government.

The suspected culprit in the killing of thousands of juvenile coho is a possible toxic cocktail of motor oil, dog feces, detergents, and/or pesticides mixing in storm water flushed into the heritage Cowichan River during rains.

“The speculation is material gets built up in the storm system during dry periods and when rain water flushes it out, there’s a potential toxin to fish,” said Rodger Hunter of the Cowichan Watershed Board.

“It may have been someone pouring things down a storm drain.”

Those ideas are being sleuthed by folks with municipal, provincial and federal governments, plus Cowichan Tribes.

“There could also be other things contributing to water quality in that (Fish Gut) area,” Mayor Phil Kent said.

“We’re testing above and below the outfalls.”

But sample testing hasn’t pinpointed a specific toxin yet, he noted.

“Our outfalls are old and they go straight in (the river).

“We want to determine the sources and look at possible mitigation,” Kent said.

That could mean taxpayers paying to treat the city’s storm water.

“We’ll have to face what we have to and the way we manage our storm water,” he said.

Despite the recent coho kills, council was already studying its storm-water capacity, potentially toward treatment options, noted Kent.

That capacity study, without treatment ideas, could hit city hall in about two months.

Kent noted Duncan’s current dike work also “brought to light a (storm-water) problem that could have been going on for some time.”

Meanwhile, Kent signalled plans are afoot for council to revisit its program of putting eco-symbols near storm drains to remind people against pouring toxins into the river.

Hunter agreed.

“We need to do a better job of education.”

Source

Click image for more information

2023 RiverCleanup Poster

Click for more information

Click image for Board Meeting Agenda Packages

2023 CWB Members

2023 Cowichan Watershed Board members. Click image for Board Meeting Agenda Packages

Cowichan Lake Weir Updates (Click image)

Final Design Concept image

Cowichan Lake Weir Updates (Click image)

Why Fish Need Water

Latest News

  • Changing Conditions Force Difficult Decisions for Managing Cowichan River
  • Workers to pump water into Cowichan River amid drought
  • CBC Radio – On The Island Interview with Tom Rutherford -Cowichan River water levels.
  • Prolonged drought, low flows behind mass fish kill on Cowichan River, says DFO

Sign up for E-News!

Board Meeting Notifications

Event Notifications

CWB Website

Home
About Us
Contact
Cowichan Basin Water Management Plan
Documents & Presentations
Privacy
Terms

Targets

Water Quality
Estuarine Health
Salmon Sustainability
Water Use
Watershed IQ
Water Supply
Riparian Area Protection

Cowichan Watershed

Introduction
Cowichan Lake
Quamichan & Somenos Lakes
Cowichan Estuary
The Weir

Logo Email

info@cowichanwatershedboard.ca

Mailing Address
4335 Riverside Road
Duncan, BC, V9L 6M8

Copyright © 2023 Cowichan Watershed Board - All Rights Reserved. | Design by MAC5

sponsor logo
The Cowichan Watershed Board (CWB) gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the above organizations.