Work to clear gravel near Catalyst Paper’s pump house on the Cowichan River has been completed.
The work began two weeks ago to remove accumulated gravel from in front of the pump house to secure water flow to the water pumps for the Crofton mill, and it's expected no more gravel removal from the site will be necessary for many years.
Brian Houle, the environment manager at Catalyst Crofton which operates the weir on the river, said that over time, the accumulation of gravel on the river bottom in front of the pump house can restrict the flow of water into the pump house.
He said that in 2007, and again in 2012, gravel removal was needed, and now, 12 years later, Catalyst needed to do it again.
“Environmental qualified professionals provided oversight for the project, and many actions were taken to ensure no harm to fish or fish habitat as a result of the work,” Houle said.
“This kind of in-river work is regulated and Catalyst worked with Fisheries and Oceans Canada to gain approval for this project. The province also reviewed the work plan and was available to provide specific guidance for how this work was to be done to protect fish or fish habitat.”
Houle said when the gravel extraction was complete, the Catalyst workers removed equipment and large concrete blocks from the river on Sept. 19-20 before cleaning up the site.
“The project went well with more gravel removed than we removed in 2012,” he said. “Hopefully, we won’t have to do it again for at least another 12 years. This is an activity that is anticipated and built into our licence to extract water from the river.
