Water Wise Tips

Water Use Facts

The average British Columbian uses 490 Litres of water per day, a rise of 50 Litres from 2001 statistics. The rest of Canada averages 340 Litres per person per day. Compare this to the Canadian statistic that in 1994, metred households used an average of 263 Litres per person per day, compared to 430 Litres for unmetred use.

Let’s Use Our Water Wisely

To make sure we have the water we need, we all have to use it wisely. Let’s start by using the following tips around the home and garden. They are small changes, but they make a BIG difference.

In The Kitchen and Laundry:

Instead of running the tap, keep a jug of cool water in the fridge.
Turn off the tap and wash your fruit in a bucket. Use the water around the garden.
Turn off the garburator and and save water. Compost your kitchen scraps.
Wash only full loads in your washing machine and dishwasher. Every load in a washing machine takes up to 190 Litres.
Watch for dripping taps! Change tap washers and save up to 300 Litres a week. Attach “low-flow” aerators to faucets.

Around The Yard:

Use a broom, not a hose, to clean driveways and walkways and turn the water off when you wash your car – use a nozzle to stop the flow between rinsings.
Long grass helps shade its roots. Mow less often and you’ll save water.

As well, cut down on lawns – grass requires up to 4 times as much water as most other plants, especially native plants. (Native plants are disease resistant and require little water once they are established.)

Mulch, mulch, mulch; 13-10 centimetres of mulch on top of the soil reduces water needs, moderates soil temperature, and inhibits weeds.
Don’t water when it is windy. Wind can blow sprinklers off target and speeds up evaporation.
When you must water, water long enough for moisture to soak into the roots where it will do the most good. A good way to measure this, is to put an empty tuna tin on your lawn. When it is full, you’ll know that you have watered enough.

In The Bathroom:

Turn off the tap when you brush your teeth or shave. Shaving takes 40 L of water, teeth-brushing takes 20 L and hand-washing 4 L of water.
Take short showers instead of baths – a five minute shower can save 60 Litres of water over a bath. Showering uses 19 Litres every minute.
Use food colouring to check your toilet for leaks. Save up to 300 Litres a week. (Some estimates suggest that 30% of all North American homes have some degree of water fixture leakage. Whether it’s a leaky faucet or toilet, the result is the same, in one day hundreds of Litres of potable water drip down the drain. Statistics on water use in the home suggest that toilets account for 26.7% of total domestic consumption and leaks account for 13.7%.)

Project Updates

Notification of Trail Closure

Aug 10-17, 2009

The trails on the south side of the Puntledge River upstream of the Browns River confluence will be closed for maintenance work along the Powerline Side-channel.

This habitat enhancement project will involve some blasting at the upstream end of the side-channel near the current road access. Public safety measures are in place and ground security will be on site. Project Watershed requests your cooperation during the period of construction work and asks that you please plan to avoid the work area.

The project is being completed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada and partners, administered by Comox Valley Project Watershed Society, and has funding from the BC Hydro Bridge Coastal Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program (BCRP).

For further information, please contact Project Watershed at 250-703-2871. For a map of the location, visit our web site under “what’s new: project updates” at www.projectwatershed.bc.ca

Salmon Spawning Habitat Improvement Project along the Puntledge River

A project to improve spawning and rearing habitat for pink and coho salmon and trout is set to go this summer on a side-channel off the Puntledge River. The major improvements will take place on the Powerline Side-channel, which flows on the south side of the Puntledge River, just upstream from where the Browns River meets the Puntledge River.

Side-channels are critical habitat for these species because the channel creates a more stable environment for spawning and rearing than the main river channel. Side-channels can either occur naturally or be constructed, but they differ from the main river channel in that they generally have: more stable water flows and levels; more complex habitat pools with woody debris for refuge; shaded areas; and gravel pockets for salmon to lay their eggs; all of which are very conducive to spawning and rearing. Normally, natural processes on a river would allow for gravel and wood to be delivered to the lower river from the upper watershed. However, in the case of the Puntledge River there is a hydroelectric diversion dam and impoundment dam upstream which interrupts the gravel and wood transport downstream. This can impair the quality of spawning and rearing habitat in the river downstream, and it is common practice to create side-channels to improve spawning and rearing conditions for salmon and trout.

While originally constructed in 1991, it has been recognized that the Powerline Side-channel has a few design and maintenance issues, and this year’s project aims to address these. According to Esther Guimond, the project biologist, “the main focus will be to change the design of the river intake to reduce the risk of flow disruption into the side channel and to enlarge the settling pond at the upper end of the side-channel”. The river intake is what feeds water into the side-channel from the Puntledge River. Previous intake designs caused too much sediment to travel through the intake pipe into the side-channel, slowly choking off the water flow into the channel and degrading the quality of the spawning habitat. Settling ponds are created in a side-channel to allow suspended sediment to settle before the water flow is discharged. Enlarging the present settling pond will reduce the dredging maintenance schedule and allow for a better quality and quantity of water for fish habitat.

The enlargement of the settling pond will involve some blasting at the upstream end of the side-channel near the current road access. This work is scheduled to take place the week of August 10-17, 2009 and will result in a short term trail closure near this site. Public safety measures are in place and ground security will be on site. The public is being asked for their cooperation by avoiding the work area during this construction period.

The project is being administered by Comox Valley Project Watershed Society, with funding from the BC Hydro Bridge Coastal Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program (BCRP) and is supported by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. If you require further information about this project, please contact Project Watershed Society at 703-2871.