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TheCowichan River/ˈkoʊ.ɪtʃən/ is aCanadian Heritage River[1] onVancouver Island, inBritish Columbia, Canada. Its headwater isCowichan Lake. The river flows east overSkutz Falls and throughMarie Canyon towards its mouth atCowichan Bay. The river'sdrainage basin is 795 square kilometres (307 sq mi) in size.[2]
The Cowichan River is the centre of aprovincial park,Cowichan River Provincial Park, on southernVancouver Island. The park is home to hundreds of animal species, including the native andendangered Vancouver Island ermine and more than 200 species of birds.[citation needed]
The river is the namesake ofCowichan Herald Extraordinary at theCanadian Heraldic Authority.[citation needed]
In the decade leading up to 2014, water levels dropped to the point that it "required the trucking of fish up the river," and theCowichan Valley Regional District instituted water restrictions for residents.[3]
Water from the river is used in the pulp and paper mill operated byCatalyst Paper inCrofton.[citation needed]
The Cowichan river is regarded as one of the premier fly fishing destinations in Canada. Voted the second best fly fishing destination in Canada by the world’s largest online travel fishing company, FishingBooker. With an abundance of species, including rainbow and brown trout, 3 pacific salmon species and the infamous steelhead, it is understandable why it attracts fly anglers from around the world.
Thanks to the efforts and collaboration between The Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Cowichan Tribes and conservation/stewardship organizations, the Cowichan River chinook have made a remarkable recovery. In 2009, only a few hundred Cowichan chinook returned to the river. Since that time, a resurgence of the species has occurred, culminating with historically high Cowichan chinook returns in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
https://cowichanwatershedboard.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/2024-Cowichan-Bulletin-1_Sept13.pdf
https://cheknews.ca/waves-of-spawning-chinook-salmon-reverse-trend-on-cowichan-river-502351/
In July 2023, in the midst of a summer drought, the Cowichan River experienced a fish kill event. The investigation conducted by the Government of British Columbia found that downstream of the wastewater outflow, dangerous levels of nutrients were found along with floating brown algae. The Town of Lake Cowichan’s sewage treatment facility was found to have been outside of the regulatory requirements for wastewater discharge on multiple occasions that same year. A $700 fine was issued. "Penalty for failure to comply with Permit 247 Section 3.4(a) (Analysis) and Section 6.3 (Noncompliance Reporting of Toxicity)""Penalty for failure to comply with the Act, regulations, terms of permit, or orders issued under this Act"https://nrced.gov.bc.ca/records;autofocus=64bffd63824ecf00222f746f"River discharge in the Cowichan River was low (approximately 4.5 m3/second) at the time of the fish kill, leading to concern that low effluent dilution, combined with high temperatures and potentially irregular effluent quality, may have led to the mortality event.""BC Fisheries staff described the Town of Lake Cowichan effluent discharge as"green and goopy" in July 2023 surveys, contrary to previous years of fisheries surveys where the effluent was described as "watery coffee" in appearance."Though green algae are not uncommon to observe downstream of the effluent discharge, in July 2023 patches of dense filamentous green algal growth were observed downstream of the lagoon effluent discharge pipe for about one kilometer;...green algae were replaced by thick brown algae with a "scummy" appearance just upstream of the 70.2 Mile Trestle and below some right bank tributaries (BC WLRS 2023)."https://cowichanwatershedboard.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Cowichan-CSI-Ken-Ashley-slidedeck-Oct-21-2024-v-5-final.pdf
