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New tech helping regional district understand and avoid local climate change effects

Jul 20, 2018 | 4:34 PM

NANAIMO — We know the damage floods and droughts do to the Nanaimo-area and now hopefully some new technology will be able to answer why it happens and how to avoid the damage in the future.

Two new environmental tracking stations are being installed within the Regional District of Nanaimo, one in French Creek and another in the upper Nanoose Creek watershed.

Watershed protection coordinator Julie Pisani told NanaimoNewsNOW the stations are important because they provide crucial info which will help avoid or handle the effects of climate change, such as wildfires, floods, extreme events and damage to fish habitats.

“We can understand which areas are at risk of rivers coming over their banks. We can see what’s happening as we get warmer, dryer summers and more intense rainfall in the winter time,” she said. “All of these events are increasing and projected to further increase in our region.”

The station in French Creek will study the relationship between the consistently flooded area and the underground water supply, while the upper Nanoose Creek station will calculate how much water flows into and out of the local system at a mid-elevation.

The two new trackers join the nearly 100 other stations across the area, which measure everything from temperature to water stored in the ground to understand what is happening with our climate.

“If you don’t have monitoring stations, if you’re just doing it for one year and walking away, you’re not going to have a good long-term picture of these changes and the unpredictability and variability that comes along with it.”

Each station cost between $10 and $15,000 and were installed in partnership with private and public organizations like the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Island Timberlands.

 

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit