Watershed Program

The City's Water & Environmental staff look after the Watershed Stewardship Program. There are two different watersheds: the Kiskatinaw River Watershed and the Dawson Creek Watershed. Our Watershed Stewardship Program:

monitors water levels

manages dam safety

collects data for water license compliance

Kiskatinaw River Watershed

The Kiskatinaw River is the sole source of drinking water for the City of Dawson Creek and the Village of Pouce Coupe, as well as surrounding rural residents. It services a combined population of approximately 15,000 people.

The river flows from Bearhole Lake and is fed by numerous springs along the way. Water flows approximately 170km downstream from Bearhole Lake to our water intake facility located in the Arras community. From there, we pump the water into a series of reservoirs.

The Watershed Stewardship Program monitors water levels and water quality. They also work with stakeholders to apply best management practices in the watershed.

Dawson Creek Watershed

The City's namesake the "Dawson Creek” runs through the middle of the community. The Watershed Program has many stations in the creek that track water levels. During flood events, staff use the water level data to make decisions about road closures and evacuations. These stations also support research and water license compliance.

Flood mitigation

In 2019, we updated our Flood Mapping. Many flood mitigation projects have been implemented from this mapping information.

Studies

The Watershed Stewardship program has completed many studies, including:

Bearhole Lake Water Balance Studies
Dawson Creek Limited Watershed Assessment
Drinking Water Quality Risk Assessments
Source Water Protection and Management Plans

For more information or to access research and studies about our watershed, contact our Watershed Team.