Lake Cowichan – Re: Dam solution for water woes Further to the letter in Wednesday, April 29 Citizen, the proposal of putting a dam across Cowichan Lake, as suggested by Gerry Masuda, is rather ludicrous.
First of all, only the towns of Lake Cowichan and Crofton are receiving drinking water from the lake. Lake Cowichan directly and Crofton through Catalyst Paper.
Secondly, where would the dam be erected and how high? At the weir or some other location? The towns of Youbou, Mesachie Lake, Honeymoon Bay and other residential properties around the lake are only a couple of metres above the existing crest of the weir.
Thirdly, the depth of the lake at the proposed dam location must be taken into account. Cowichan Lake has an average depth of 50 metres and its maximum depth is 152 metres. In addition, any fractured bedrock, large boulders, gravel, silt and/or clay on top of the bedrock has to be removed before dam construction could commence, further increasing the depth.
Raising the weir by 29 cm, as mentioned in the article, would result in the additional storage of 17.98 million cubic metres of water without flooding towns and/or lake properties. Barring evaporation, this would allow an additional 29.73 days of 7 cms (cubic metre/second) river flow. For more information on Cowichan Lake and, from there, on the weir go to: www.cowichanwatershedboard. ca/content/cowichan-lake
Hubert Crevels Lake Cowichan
