Water Stewardship Information Sources
| Citation | Trow Associates. 2008. Temperature Monitoring Lower Coquitlam River Project - Year 2 Report. Prepared for BC Hydro. |
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| Organization | BC Hydro |
| URL | https://www.bchydro.com/content/dam/hydro/medialib/internet/documents/environment/pdf/wup_coqmon_06_temperature_monitoring_lower_coquitlam_riv.pdf |
| Abstract/Description or Keywords | Coquitlam Reservoir is a natural lake that was enlarged by the construction of a dam at the head of the Lower Coquitlam River. Waters from Coquitlam Reservoir are diverted through tunnels to Buntzen Lake, a reservoir that supplies water for two hydroelectric generation stations on Indian Arm, and to the Greater Vancouver Regional District’s (GVRD) drinking water system. Releases of water are also directed to the Lower Coquitlam River to maintain the features and functions of this stream and its associated riparian habitat. BC Hydro’s Coquitlam-Buntzen Water Use Plan, Monitoring Plan Terms of Reference – January 2006 (updated December 2007) specifies that an monitoring program be carried out to assess the effects of reservoir operations on downstream river temperatures in order to guide decisions made regarding the balancing of the three main demands on the Coquitlam-Buntzen system. As identified, the demands are habitat (primarily fish habitat) on the Lower Coquitlam River, domestic water supply, and hydroelectric power generation. Two components of the CBWUP monitoring program are infrastructure upgrades at the Coquitlam Reservoir, to allow regulated and variable flows from the low level outlets, and a series of monitoring programs, that will allow the assessment of various flow regimes being implemented over a nine year period. The Lower Coquitlam River Temperature Monitoring Program (the Program) has the objective of determining if and how water temperatures in the Lower Coquitlam River are influenced by reservoir operations. The Program will run for four years (2006 to 2009 inclusive) and culminate in an analysis that will answer two questions: 1) Is there a significant correlation between lower Coquitlam River temperatures and Coquitlam Reservoir operations? and 2) Is there a significant difference between the reservoir to river temperature gradient and lake to river temperature gradient(s) in similar but unregulated lower Fraser River tributaries? The Program was initiated in November, 2005 with the installation of five water and one air temperature data loggers in the Lower Coquitlam River. Together with operations data (water releases to the Lower Coquitlam River) and water temperature data for Coquitlam Reservoir, obtained from the GVRD, these data will be used to answer the first question. In 2006 a search was conducted to locate data on water temperatures from one or more unregulated lake-river tributaries on the lower Fraser River. Candidate systems included the Harrison, Pitt, Chilliwack, Chehalis and Cultus systems. Data from the unregulated systems would be analyzed with lake and river water temperature data from the Coquitlam system to answer the second question. See Figure 1 for the location of the Coquitlam system in the lower Fraser Valley and Figure 2 for details of the sampling locations in the Coquitlam system. |
| Information Type | report |
| Regional Watershed | Lower Fraser |
| Sub-watershed if known | Coquitlam River |
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| Comments | |
| Project status | complete |
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