Cowichan Watershed Board

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • YouTube
MENUMENU
  • About
    • Indigenous Co-governance
    • Our Principles
    • Board Members
    • Non-Profit Society
    • Supporters (Coming Soon)
    • Contact Us
  • Targets
    • Water Quality
    • Estuary Health
    • Salmon Sustainability
    • Water Use
    • Watershed IQ
    • Water Supply
    • Riparian Plants
  • Projects
    • Twinned Watersheds Project
      • Riparian Plants
      • Indigenous Flows
      • Fish Habitats
      • Big Dancing Fish
    • Weir Ready (Coming Soon)
    • River Cleanup (Coming Soon)
    • Speakers Series
    • Past Projects (Coming Soon)
      • Water Challenge (Coming Soon)
      • Superheroes (Coming Soon)
  • Resources
    • News
      • LEGACY - News Releases
    • Board Meetings
    • Publications (Coming Soon)
    • Presentations (Coming Soon)
    • Videos (Coming Soon)
    • Reading Room (Coming Soon)
You are here: Home / Twinned Watersheds Project

Twinned Watersheds Project

Twinned Watersheds Project

The Koksilah and Chemainus Rivers, on Eastern Vancouver Island, BC, have been similarly and severely impacted by climate change and land use. In both rivers, low summer water flows and degraded stream habitats are a threat to salmon and salmon communities, including the indigenous people who have lived in balance with salmon in these watersheds since time immemorial.  

The Twinned Watersheds Project, co-lead by Cowichan Watershed Board, Cowichan Tribes and Halalt First Nation, is an innovative and efficient way of sharing resources to give decision-makers the best information possible to turn this situation around.

The first phase of this unique partnership  began in 2021 with local field crews gathering  previously unavailable data about water flows, fish habitat, and riverbank ecology. Experts then analyzed this data to understand the relationships between these elements and presented their findings to decision-makers and government staff.  Click on the icons to read more about the project sections:  EFlows and Fish Habitats, Riparian Plants, Indigenous Flow, and the Big Dancing Fish!  (Interviews and happy dances with watershed stewards.)

Over the next two years, the Twinned Watersheds Project will continue under the leadership of Cowichan Tribes and Halalt First Nation to also assess how many salmon are currently dependent on these river habitats.

Posted on May 1, 2022

Video: Twinned Watersheds 2022 - Project Overview

The Cowichan Watershed Board, Cowichan Tribes, and Halalt First Nation undertook field work in 2021 as the first year in a multi-year “Twinned Watersheds” project in the Chemainus and Koksilah Rivers on eastern Vancouver Island, where river flows now frequently fall too low to support the needs of salmon. This phase of the project gathered…

Posted on April 25, 2022

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…

Posted on April 15, 2022

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…

Posted on April 5, 2022

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…

Posted on March 15, 2022

Video: Why Fish Need Trees

Tim, Tom and Heather explain why fish need trees to survive and thrive in coastal watersheds like the Cowichan-Koksilah (Eastern Vancouver Island, British Columbia), particularly with the added stress of climate change already apparent here. Featuring Indigenous fisheries biologist, Tim Kulchyski, Registered Professional Forester Heather Pritchard, and Executive Director of the Cowichan Watershed Board, Tom…

Khowutzun Forest Services Flows and Fish habitat field crew training. Koksilah River.
Khowutzun Forest Services Flows and Fish habitat field crew training. Koksilah River.
FISH HABITATS
Koksilah Ancient Forest, by Arcas Media
Koksilah Ancient Forest, by Arcas Media
RIPARIAN PLANTS
Tim Kulchyski, Cowichan Tribes member, Fisheries biologist, Koksilah River. Taylor Roades
Tim Kulchyski, Cowichan Tribes member, Fisheries biologist, Koksilah River. Taylor Roades
INDIGENOUS FLOWS
Stth'aqwi' the Big Dancing Fish meets friend, MLA Sonia Furstenau.
Stth'aqwi' the Big Dancing Fish meets friend, MLA Sonia Furstenau.
BIG DANCING FISH

Twinned Watershed Maps

Click on any map below to open the full-sized PDF.

Click here to access the Twinned Watersheds Habitat Atlas

Chemainus Watershed

Chemainus Watershed Overview
Chemainus Watershed Overview
Meso Habitat Units
Meso Habitat Units
Stream Cover
Stream Cover
Stream Substrates
Stream Substrates
Spawning Gravels
Spawning Gravels
Wetted Width-Depth Ratio
Wetted Width-Depth Ratio
Bankful Width-Depth Ratio
Bankful Width-Depth Ratio
Habitat Disturbance
Habitat Disturbance
Channel Entrenchment
Channel Entrenchment
Stream Incision
Stream Incision
Structural Influence
Structural Influence
Habitat Complexity
Habitat Complexity
Geomorphic Condition (SEM)
Geomorphic Condition (SEM)
Geomorphic Condition (REM)
Geomorphic Condition (REM)
Geomorphic Influence (SET)
Geomorphic Influence (SET)
Floodplain Availability
Floodplain Availability

Koksilah Watershed

Koksilah Watershed Overview
Koksilah Watershed Overview
Transect Locations
Transect Locations
Meso Habitat Units
Meso Habitat Units
Stream Cover
Stream Cover
Stream Substrates
Stream Substrates
Spawning Gravels
Spawning Gravels
Width Depth Ratio
Width Depth Ratio
Habitat Disturbance
Habitat Disturbance
Channel Entrenchment
Channel Entrenchment
Stream Incision
Stream Incision
Structural Influence
Structural Influence
Habitat Complexity
Habitat Complexity
Geomorphic Condition (SEM)
Geomorphic Condition (SEM)
Geomorphic Condition (REM)
Geomorphic Condition (REM)
Geomorphic Influence (SET)
Geomorphic Influence (SET)
Floodplain Availability
Floodplain Availability

"There’s a lot to do. We are supporting each other by the sharing of resources, sharing of time and being able to get the work done a bit more efficiently than it would be if just the one system was being worked on."


- Larry George, Cowichan Tribes

"We’ve never been able to collect this kind of information. The objective of this study is to understand what fish need in the river and how those flows are or aren’t supporting fish."


- Cheri Ayers, Local Fisheries Biologist

"Protecting healthy riparian ecosystems now is more affordable and effective than extensive restoration efforts in the future."


- Heather Pritchard, RPF

Huy tseep q'u!

The Twinned Watershed Project is grateful for the financial support of the province of British Columbia and the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation for the first phase of the Twinned Watershed Project. 

Huy tseep q’u siem as well to everyone who worked on the project or provided peer review.

Cowichan Tribes

Halalt First Nation

Province of British Columbia

Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation

Latest News

  • Job Posting: Executive Director
  • Report: Twinned Watershed Project – Xwulqw’selu/Koksilah River Environmental Flow Assessment
  • Media Release: BC’s First Water Sustainability Plan Being Developed for Koksilah Watershed
  • Cowichan Tribes and Province to develop BC’s first Water Sustainability Plan

Sign up for E-News

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 © 2022 Cowichan Watershed Board - All Rights Reserved. | Design by MAC5 | Maintained by Shawn DeWolfe Consulting

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