BC Hydro Issues Advisory For Puntledge River

BC Hydro has issued an advisory to stay away from the Puntledge River for the next couple of weeks.

A series of moderate storms in the forecast and water inflows into Comox Lake Reservoir will be increasing.

Releases from Comox Dam down the Puntledge River will fluctuate over the next two weeks and will depend on the actual water inflows from the storms.

BC Hydro’s Stephen Watson says October’s storm activity resulted in extra water releases from the dam to control the reservoir water level.

He says the reservoir water storage is within normal ranges for this time of year so there is flexibility to absorb inflows from the upcoming storms. Sending more water downstream helps to maintain that flexibility.

In terms of the next few months - generally the wettest of the year - Watson says they have flood risk management operations in place to help mitigate risk.

The water release from the Comox Dam is generally around 35 cubic metres per second – over the next couple weeks it will be bumped up into the 50-90 m3/s range, typical flow levels for storm season.

Temporary danger safety signage is already up - the advisory goes through to November 17th.