A good rain can bring many things, and for one community, that has turned out to be the hope that their beloved lake could be restored to its former glory.
While the heavy rain showers flowed into Lake Cowichan in Victoria, British Columbia, they were small. Still, they brought enough of a boost to the Cowichan River's previously critical levels to indicate a return to normalcy for the region as the dry season presses on.
Brian Houle, environmental manager at the Domtar Crofton mill that owns and operates the weir at Lake Cowichan, said that rainfall is forecast to continue for the next several weeks. This could sustain a consistent flow of water into the Cowichan River that could keep the lake alive going into the fall.
The dry conditions for the lake used to be so bad recently that, as far back as July, they were considering lowering the flow of water from the lake into the weir by as much as 1 cubic meter per second or more to conserve as much water as possible.
Now, those plans will at least have to be put on hold for the time being as the lake shows signs of recovery.
"The meeting on [Aug. 5] with the regulators of the watershed resulted in guidance to hold the water flow [into the river] at the current 5.5 cubic meters per second for now," Houle said in an official statement, per the Ladysmith Chemainus Chronicle.
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"While it is highly likely that pumping will be required early in September, no one has a crystal ball to predict future weather, and our focus now is to meet weekly until conditions in the river support a flow reduction down to 4.5 cubic meters."
Although reducing the water flow is still on the table, the lake is recovering significantly because of just how vital lakes are to the environment and the local communities surrounding them.
Lakes not only provide a habitat for several species of fish and a consistent source of water for local wildlife, but they also provide water for people and the surrounding community, a fact that Houle and associates are taking into consideration when discussing reducing the outflow of water into the weir.
This sort of conservationist thinking is precisely what will drive us toward a more sustainable future, where our resources are more abundant simply because there is more of them to share and distribute.
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It also highlights the need for us to continue moving away from dirty energy sources that produce plant-warming gases, which will only exacerbate the intensity of heat waves and create even more extreme and destructive weather events.
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