Rare approval has been granted to BC Hydro to reduce flows in the Puntledge River to new lows in order to conserve water supplies.
With the agreement of other government agencies, the Comptroller of Water Rights has granted the power company - which controls water from Comox Lake - a variation in its licence, allowing it to severely curtail river flows this summer, starting right away.
"The result of those discussions is an agreement to consider fish habitat over a likely record dry summer and still having some water for returning salmon in September," said BC Hydro spokesperson Stephen Watson. "We are thinking long-term."