Cowichan River

The river flows east over Skutz Falls and through Marie Canyon towards its mouth at Cowichan Bay.

[citation needed] The Cowichan river is regarded as one of the premier fly fishing destinations in Canada.

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."

"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