Duncan – New Democrat MLA Doug Routley is celebrating funding for a new Cowichan Valley-based project under the British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund (BCSRIF), a $142.8 million fund over five years dedicated to restoring our province’s wild salmon populations. The funding will support the preliminary work required in order to build a new weir on Cowichan Lake.
“The Cowichan River runs have been threatened year after year by low water levels, so this weir will be critical to sustain our wild salmon populations,” said the MLA for Nanaimo-North Cowichan. “This is the kind of funding we recommended as part of the Wild Salmon Advisory Council’s report, and I’m proud to have been a part of moving this work forward.”
MLA Routley said that the Cowichan Valley Regional District and partners, including the Cowichan Tribes, will conduct an evaluation of the natural boundary of Cowichan Lake to support building critical new water storage infrastructure (a weir and associated works) to provide flows required to sustain Cowichan salmon populations.
MLA Routley said the funding aligns with key recommendations from the Wild Salmon Advisory Council’s report, released in March 2019, which called on government to focus on near-term actions that could address the immediate needs of wild salmon and their habitats. It also delivers on the Province’s commitment to revitalize and protect wild salmon, which will provide greater economic certainty for B.C.’s coastal communities.
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