Reflections from our Co-Chairs For over a decade, as the Watershed Board has sounded the alarm over the harsh impacts of some types of change, our focus has been at the watershed scale – climate change, changes to forest ecosystems, changes in water levels (whether flooding or drought), changes in fish and wildlife populations, water […]
CWB 2021 Annual Report – Final Draft
Reflections from the Executive Director The Cowichan Watershed Board represents a community that is defined by our rivers, lakes, estuary and forests. Our Federally and Provincially designated heritage river and the salmon populations it supports have provided the Quw’utsun people with sustenance and cultural and spiritual wellness for millennia – and continues to do so […]
Twinned Watersheds Project – Overview Booklet
TWO RIVERS, BOTH IN PERIL. The Koksilah and Chemainus Rivers, on Eastern Vancouver Island, BC, have been similarly and severely impacted by climate change and land use. Low summer water flows and degraded stream habitats are a threat to salmon and salmon communities. The Twinned Watersheds Project is an innovative and efficient way of sharing […]
Twinned Watershed Project: Executive Summary – Koksilah River Environmental Flow Assessment
Water holds a prominent place in culture, science, policy, community values and recreational pursuits. Yet, it remains undervalued in comparison to the role that it plays in society and in the cycle of life in the Cowichan Valley, British Columbia. To explore the importance of water in the Xwulqw’selu Sto’lo (Koksilah River), an Environmental Flow […]
Twinned Watershed Project: FULL REPORT – Xwulqw’selu/Koksilah River Environmental Flow Assessment
Over the past number of years water has been elevated to the centre of planning, resource management, and policy discussions. First Nations often refer to water as the life–giving force, as sacred, and as essential for all life. Similarly, western science has described water as the ‘master variable’ in both the distribution and abundance of […]