COURTENAY, B.C.- Heavy amounts of precipitation over the last week has BC Hydro crews releasing high water volumes from the Comox dam.
“We did have a great deal of rainfall at the lower elevations,” said Stephen Watson, BC Hydro utilities spokesperson.
“In fact, one of our gauges by the Cruikshank River on the Comox Lake measured almost 150 millimetres of rain in a 24-hour period, from Saturday to Sunday.”
He said the Tsolum River almost set a new record, in terms of peak flow.
“Right now, through this week into Tuesday (Jan. 30), we will continue to release high water volumes from the Comox dam downstream into the Puntledge River,” he said.
“We see very limited or low risk of flooding, isolated flooding downstream, as we go through these storms. We’ll continue to work with the city (Courtenay) and so forth, as we get through this.”
Watson noted that the public should stay away from the Puntledge River in these conditions, especially through to next Tuesday.
“We will also be going up and down (water flows) in consideration of the ocean tides, as needed.”
He said the current water release from the Comox dam is about 200 cubic metres per second, which translates to about six times the normal flow rate.
