My concerns about general stream levels in the Kootenays have been confirmed by a Ministry of Environment Press Release, but from a Rossland perspective, our stream flows are still sufficient for mid-July. We’ll reassess in the coming weeks to determine how the levels are coping with all this heat. Here’s the gist of the press release…

River levels in the south and central Interior:

• The Granby and Kettle rivers (located in Westbridge, Midway, and Grand Forks) are at five-to-10 year low flows.
• Camp Creek (Summerland), Salmon River (Salmon valley), Nicola River and Coldstream Creek (Merritt) are at five-to-10 year lows.
• The Tulameen and Similkameen rivers (Hedley, Princeton) are well below median water levels for the date, and dropping steadily.
• In the Kootenay, the Salmo River and Redfish Creek are at five-year lows.
• Penfold Creek and the Horsefly River are at five-year lows.
• The Bulkley River (Smithers) is near a five-year low.

WATER SUPPLY AND STREAMFLOW CONDITIONS

Despite excellent snow packs across much of the region last winter, the above average temperatures over the past six weeks have seen creeks dry up as the processes of evaporation and transpiration have accelerated, resulting in water loss from soils, rivers and lakes.

Current weather forecasts indicate continued drier, warmer weather for the south interior for the next five days.  Without significant and widespread rain in the next couple of weeks, river levels in many areas could be at critical low-flow levels (25-year return period) by the end of July or early August.

For many communities, this will mean increased water restrictions, particularly as reservoir levels start to drop once the summer usage overtakes the stream flows feeding them.

Despite the fact that BC is blessed with an abundance of rivers; maintaining the stream health, and the consumption requirements of communities can be a challenge. With climate change a likely reality – business as usual with water is no longer appropriate.

One would think that most industries would be learning from past failures in systems and techniques, however, there is always the chance that a major oversight can happen, particularly on steep and hazardous slopes, as residents and officials in Lewis County, WA found out last December.

The December storm triggered more than 730 landslides in the Upper Chehalis basin, according to a state aerial survey. Those slides dumped mud and debris into swollen rivers, helping fuel the floods that slammed houses, barns and farm fields downstream.

A disproportionate number of those landslides started on slopes that had been clear-cut.

The Seattle Times, using information from state aerial surveys, examined 87 of the steepest sites that had been clear-cut. Nearly half of them suffered landslides during the storm. Those sites represented less than 8 percent of the total acreage — both logged and forested — in the Upper Chehalis and its tributary drainages. But the sites produced about 30 percent — 219 — of the landslides.  read more »

I haven't written much this week, not that there hasn't been a lot I could have written about, it's more that there have been a lot of things to think about.

Summer is in full swing in the Kootenays, the lure of the Columbia River is strong at this time of the year, and it's even stronger when Rainbow Trout insist on leaping out of the water to eat my poor attempt at imitating a downed Caddis floating down the eddies and currents. The garden is alluring too, with Peaches

Work has been busy, I don't typically write about it here, however, I'll point people to local and provincial media if they want to discover the controversy of a Golf Course proposal in Rossland.

I received my Professional Engineer designation (in BC) a couple of weeks ago, but this week I received the actual stamp that is the symbol of the responsibility to maintain the code of ethics and bylaws of the Association.

I think the weekend holds room for golf, fly fishing and family time. I have some writing to do, for UrbanWorkbench and other projects, but that will fit in between the other activities, it's Summer after all.

There’s a new breed of people in town, and I think it all stems from the Baby Boomer generation’s ability to continue to spend money and influence the spending habits of younger generations. (I just like being able to blame things on the Baby Boomers, it would be nice if someone started a blog about that). But in my mind, this breed is a dying one.

I used to be able to peg people pretty well into classes, you know, “Jim’s Nouveaux Riche because he’s got a new ski boat”, or “Tony’s middle class cause he buys his tools at Sears”. White Collar, blue collar, was easy, even with green collar things weren’t too tough. But nowadays it seems to be a little tougher with the introduction of the Leisure Class into mainstream society. What was once the purview of white shoed retirees in Florida, or Bling covered black rap icons can be your neighbour’s too. But shift things around from flashy diamond rings and hotted up cars, to less showy alternatives to spend your cash. The status symbols are less conspicuous, but the products can still be expensive –  read more »

The municipality of Kaslo has  proposed an novel means of taxing the out-of-towner’s who have decided to buy a piece the Kaslo’s paradise.

Kaslo, B.C. cottage owners may be in for a tax hike

The community on the shores of Kootenay Lake in southeastern B.C. has seen real estate values skyrocket, partly because of speculation by out-of-town property owners, according to Mayor Jim Holland.
"With this resort-style development, there's increased pressure and demands on the [residential] ratepayer that actually help support some of the more investment-style or development-style or speculative-style of real-estate market," Holland said.

Some of the comments on the CBC website are pretty damning of the proposal, here’s one from a resident…  read more »

Could you do your job from home?

And by 2015, according to demographer Wendell Cox, there will be more people in the country working electronically from home full time than are taking public transit.

Suburbia's not dead yet - Los Angeles Times

Telecommuting makes sense for many industries, even in some cases those that have been traditionally face to face service based. Businesses that are required to account for carbon emissions may have to take it to this level for offsets. If employees are not driving, could a business count that as an offset?

A bonus question: Would your boss be up for it?