While the low snowpack levels raise concerns of drought conditions this summer, there’s more to the story.

“These watersheds … on the Island aren’t highly snow dependent,” said Moore. “They’re rain driven.”

Rain in May and June is especially important in filling Cowichan Lake and meeting “environmental flows” all summer on the Cowichan River, he said.

Snowpacks typically reach their maximum in the third or fourth week in April, Moore said. “There’s still potential for a little bit more snow, but it doesn’t look like a lot of precipitation in the forecast.”

Environment Canada has predicted 2026 to be among the hottest years on record.

Heather Mountain is located north of the west end of Cowichan Lake on Mosaic private forest lands and is the only site in the Cowichan Valley that measures snowpack levels.

The snow-survey station sits at an elevation of 1,190 metres and features a “snow pillow” that remotely provides data.

According to the BC government, “snow pillows consist of three-metre-diameter bladders containing antifreeze solution.

“As snow accumulates on the pillow, the weight of the snow pushes an equal weight of the antifreeze solution from the pillow up a standpipe in the instrument house.

“This weight of the water content of the snow is termed Snow Water Equivalent. The distance the antifreeze is pushed up the standpipe is recorded by a float connected to a shaft encoder.”