Digital thermometer in hand, British Columbia Conservation Foundation volunteer Jim Deck zigzagged his way through the sandcastle-building children on the beach at YoubouB次元官网网址檚 Arbutus Park and waded thigh deep to test Cowichan LakeB次元官网网址檚 water temperature.
After swirling the thermometer around in the water for a time, Deck got a recording of 22.1 C.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 warm, but thatB次元官网网址檚 just the top six inches and itB次元官网网址檚 going to be warm with this hot sun and what not,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淲hen you get down to where your feet are or out at the bottom of the lake over there,B次元官网网址� he said gesturing toward the middle of the lake, B次元官网网址渋tB次元官网网址檚 probably down around 18 C. Last summer the water that was flowing out over the dike on a number of days got up to 22 C which is too hot for fish.B次元官网网址�
Deck and his wife Karen Deck belong to a corps of volunteers that test the levels of sunscreen chemicals in the lake and the Cowichan River for British Columbia Conservation Foundation.
B次元官网网址淲e know that the bad sunscreens with that chemical [Oxybenzone] arenB次元官网网址檛 good for the lake and fish,B次元官网网址� he said.
Not only are the Decks looking out for the lake and river, they live near the beach in Youbou so theyB次元官网网址檙e simply taking care of their neighbourhood, too.
After testing the water temperature, Deck pulled out four brown test tubes to collect his water samples.
Testing for this year just began the weekend prior to the long weekend, he explained, presumably because thatB次元官网网址檚 when the weather actually drew people out to the areaB次元官网网址檚 waterways for recreation.
For his teamB次元官网网址檚 part, theyB次元官网网址檒l be testing six sites around Cowichan Lake and then six spots along the Cowichan River as well.
For the lake, the Decks will be testing Arbutus Park and Spring Beach, while others will capture data at the Duck Pond, Gordon Bay, Honeymoon Bay, and the Tube Shack.
Once the information has been recorded and analyzed, the report will be made available on the British Columbia Conservation Foundation website, alongside last yearB次元官网网址檚 data.
