By Grant Warkentin
BC Hydro is expecting a dry summer, with the water supply forecast for the Campbell River system at 53 per cent of what’s considered a normal year.
The public utility sent out an update on Monday about what the next few months are going to look like for the Campbell River region and the local hydroelectric system. An unusually dry April will have some repercussions, according to the report.
“Total cumulative precipitation for April was 36 per cent of normal and is now tracking at 67 per cent of normal for the month of May,” says the update.
Starting today (June 1), BC Hydro is reducing water flows down the Campbell River from 80 cubic metres per second to 70, with the goal of reaching summer flow levels of 30 a bit earlier than usual, by the end of June.
“We generally target the first week of July to move to the low summer river flow conditions but given the water storage conditions in the upper reservoirs and thinking of the minimum summer recreation levels and ahead to the early fall and the salmon migration period we are doing this a bit early this season,” says the update.
In the meantime, trail users along the river may hear sirens later this week. BC Hydro will be making field adjustments to sirens at four locations along the Campbell River, from John Hart Dam to Second Island. Once adjustments are complete a test of the siren system will be performed and each siren will sound twice for up to five minutes.
The testing is scheduled for Thursday, June 4, between 11 am and 3 pm.
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