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Basil Creek July 2023
General News · 28th July 2023
Christine and Helen
“... Water is life for everything...”

We should all be concerned about water levels on Cortes.


There has been a tiny watery reprieve recently but we have been in a drought since April, the two driest months are ahead and the creeks are already at a late August/September low level. People are reporting water difficulties now.

Low water in creeks are our early warning indicators of serious water shortages coming. Chum salmon returns to the 4 salmon-bearing Cortes creeks in the fall of 2022 were dismal (10-20 fish or less/creek)!!!

This October and November are critical to the well-being of the remaining salmon stocks who need adequate water levels for successful spawning, and the continuation of their lives.

What can you do now to help conserve water?

WE all know about these personal, household conserving measures:

• NO lawn watering or overhead sprinkling
• NO car washing
• NO excessive laundering or showering
• HAND WASH laundry when possible
• REUSE any water you can
• LIMIT toilet flushing
• HAND WATER or drip irrigation early in morning, late in evening or through the night

What else can we do as a community?

Business and community use of water are the greatest consumers of water on Cortes.

If you are planning a community function, please think about what can be done to limit water use (ie. use of hand sanitizers versus hand washing).

If you operate a business, please consider changes or adjustments to how you operate to conserve water consumption.

We are all community stewards of water on Cortes. Please be mindful, informed, and do all you can to conserve the water available to us on Cortes at this critical time.

FOCI Streamkeepers, Christine Robinson
FOCI Executive Director, Helen Hall