BC Hydro will soon double flows on the Campbell River to accommodate returning salmon.
Starting September 20, expect to see signs in the Elk Falls Canyon warning of increased water levels every week. The first increase will be next week, and Stephen Watson with BC Hydro says anglers need to be aware.
“Recreational anglers along the river should consider the September 22 river flow increase in how and where they may access the river,” he says.
The increased flows for fish migration and spawning will happen two days per week, every Wednesday and Thursday, for the next nine weeks.
Watson says dry conditions are continuing to take their toll, the reservoirs above the river are low and August and September saw the lowest water inflows in 60 years of record-keeping. However, he says the utility will continue to prioritize the needs of returning salmon.
“We provide a minimum fish habitat flow of one cubic metre per second into the early fall but seeing the possible drought conditions, and the low lake storage, in the summer in coordination with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, we’ve moved the river flow down as low as one-half,” he says. “With the returning pinks we increased flows to a 0.6 m3/s flow rate. There is currently little to no water flow entering the Upper Quinsam Lake. There is enough water storage to maintain the current flow rate to the end of October.”
