The Comox Lake Reservoir has been slowly increasing over the past week, and in consideration of the wet weather forecast for next week, BC Hydro will increase the water discharge from Comox Dam.
Friday night, Hydro will slowly increase water flows into the Puntledge River to have the high flow in place Saturday through Sunday — from 32 cubic metres per second to about 110 m3/s.
BC Hydro advises the public to be cautious around the Puntledge River through the weekend.
The Comox Lake Reservoir was at 134.35 metres deep Wednesday, or about one metre from free-spilling over the dam. In looking at 48 years of data, the reservoir is about 30 centimetres higher than the median level for this time of year. The planned weekend release of water will move it downward.
BC Hydro has just completed its February to September water supply forecast for inflows into the Comox Lake Reservoir.
The forecast is 105 per cent of normal, with a variance of 18 per cent should the weather turn dry or wet. BC Hydro will update this forecast each month.
In looking ahead, the risk of major storms declines significantly as we move away from the November to January timeframe. Weather at end of February through March is generally drier and the reservoir, historically, slowly moves downward before rising again with the spring snowmelt.
BC Hydro will soon shift from flood-risk management to water storage in advance of the dry summer months.
— BC Hydro