Water Stewardship Information Sources
| ID | 1424 |
|---|---|
| Citation | Pehl, D. 2004. Low flows in high value fish streams - Thompson Basin, 2003. Report to Fisheries and Oceans Canada. |
| Organization | Fraser Basin Council |
| URL | http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/Library/329186.pdf |
| Abstract/Description or Keywords | Drought condition in the British Columbia interior resulted in the need water conservation in sensitive streams and raised substantial concerns for maintaining aquatic habitat and fish life history needs. Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection developed a drought strategy program to address these concerns. Media, stewardship, monitoring and enforcement were incorporated into the strategy. Advertisements were placed in newspapers throughout the southern BC interior requesting water uses to practice effective water conservation practices. Flow monitoring was conducted in sensitive streams within the Thompson watershed. During flow monitoring staff were asked to take opportunities to speak with water user about conservative water use. The project scope was divided into three study areas: the Nicola watershed, North Thompson and Shuswap. The Fraser Basin Council and the Salmon River Roundtable were involved with assisting in this program delivery in the Nicola and Shuswap areas. The commitment to a flow monitoring program was not made until late July. At this time the project was challenged with resources, planning time and limited staff. Valuable information was collected but, as a result of the project constraints, many biophysical impacts went unnoticed or undocumented. The limited information collected regarding biophysical impacts has been obtained by interviewing staff involved with the project, and reviewing field notes and photographs taken during the field work. Since the use of water with-in these systems continues to be an ongoing issue the report contains recommendations that, hopefully if implemented , will begin to lay the foundation to make decisions on water allocation based on sustainable use that respects the needs of all users. drought, low flows |
| Information Type | report |
| Regional Watershed | Nicola, North Thompson, Shuswap |
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| Comments | |
| Project status | complete |
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