Water Stewardship Information Sources
| ID | 526 |
|---|---|
| Citation | Douglas, T. 2007. Nicola Water Use Management Plan: Case Study. Prepared for Watershed Watch and 17th Speaking for the Salmon Workshop on Groundwater and Salmon. |
| Organization | Watershed Watch Salmon Society |
| URL | http://www.sfu.ca/cstudies/science/resources/1274126501.pdf |
| Abstract/Description or Keywords | Droughts, climate change, and economic and population growth are predicted to intensify competition and conflict between users of scarce water resources - including both humans and fish. A successful community-led process in the Nicola Valley is addressing water conflicts in order to plan sustainable choices for the use and conservation of groundwater and surface water. Addressing groundwater availability and use is important in the Nicola watershed, where, in addition to extensive surface water licenses, an increasing amount of water is being taken using wells that tap into alluvial aquifers - the valley-bottom aquifers that supply the Nicola River and tributaries with base flows and thermal refugia for salmon. Yet, as is the case elsewhere in the province, new wells can be constructed with no requirements for permits. In the fall of 2004, Nicola watershed residents initiated a water use management planning process to address concerns related to water, fish flows, and the Nicola Dam. The planning was initiated by the Nicola Stockbreeders Association, and included a public workshop hosted with the help of the Nicola Watershed Community Round Table. The key concern of residents was water quantity - having enough water for surface water license holders, other water users, and fish, particularly with the current and impending problems associated with climate change (Nicola WUMP 2006). The local effects of climate change are already seen in droughts, higher summer temperatures (BC MWLAP 2002), changing snow depths (BC MOE 2002), and mountain pine beetle infestations. Before the mountain pine beetle (MPB) epidemic runs its course by 2013, a significant amount of forest cover in the watershed is predicted to be lost, both to the beetle and to salvage harvesting. More than 50% of the forest stands in the Merritt Timber Supply Area consist primarily of lodgepole pine that is susceptible to MPB (Forsite et al. 2006). The changes underway to these landscapes have major implications for the timing and quantity of stream flows (Fenger et. al 2006). groundwater, salmoninds, aquatic habitat, stream temperature |
| Information Type | report |
| Regional Watershed | Nicola |
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| Project status | complete |
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