T
he S’amunu/ Somenos watershed, a large sub-watershed of the Cowichan Watershed drains a significant portion of the Cowichan Valley, including a large part of the Duncan/ North Cowichan urban area that surrounds Somenos Lake. Three streams drain the watershed into Somenos Lake as well as play host to spawning salmon. All three streams all suffer from poor water quality, storm surges and diminishing riparian areas.
The S’amunu/ Somenos WatershedA watershed in trouble
Somenos Lake is almosteutrophic due to excessive phosphorus levels that contribute to summer algae blooms. Somenos Creek is the highway into the S’amunu Watershed for spawning and migrating salmon. Parrots Feather, an Invasive aquatic plant grown in home aquariums and ponds, now occupies 80% of the creek, which drains the S’amunu Watershed into the Cowichan River, a Canadian Heritage River. We don’t yet understand the impact of Parrots Feather on this migration. The S’amunu watershed has historically held a great cultural and economic value for the Quw’utsun people. The watershed headwaters are home to provincially blue-listed Coastal Cutthroat Trout (CCT). and Somenos Lake is home to the Pea Mouth Chub, a species washed over with Fraser River freshet (the flood of a river from heavy rain or melted snow) an unknown time ago. To begin the process of bringing the watershed back to health the Somenos Marsh Wildlife Society has initiated the GreenStreams Community Stewardship Project (GreenStreams) in collaboration with our GreenStreams partners, Cowichan Tribes and the
Municipality of North Cowichan. The primary purpose of the GreenStreams initiative is to restore the riparian corridors and improve the water quality of Somenos watershed streams and lake for the benefit of wildlife, fish, and people, while at the same time, preserving important Cowichan Tribes cultural areas within the stream drainages for all time. GreenStreams secondary purposes include: educating, informing and enlisting streamside property owners to support riparian area improvements on their properties; collaborating with local governments to improve their riparian area protection policies; and to create a step-bystep resource guide that can be used by other groups seeking to restore their watershed streams. Help is always appreciated, whether as supporting members or active volunteers working in the field alongside us. More info on these opportunities can be found at www.somenosmarsh. com. A fun way to support our work is to attend any of our WildWings Nature & Arts Festival Events during the month of October. You can find out more about these events on the events page at www.wildwingsfestival.com. Reservations and ticket sales open September 7th.
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