BC Hydro Preparing To Test Public Warning System

BC Hydro will be conducting its annual tests of the public warning system next week.

They’re happening from May 13 to May 15. Temporary signage advising of the tests will be placed along the river system.

Crews will manually test each siren on May 13 and 14, and each may be active for a few minutes.

The full siren system test will take place on May 15 and includes releasing a pulse of water from Comox Dam to trigger the warning system.

BC Hydro staff will also be along the river to monitor the warning system.

The utility says the test also serves as a reminder of potential hazards along the Puntledge River. In a release, Public Relations Coordinator Karla Louwers says public safety is very important to BC Hydro, and it’s one of the main reasons they communicate regularly about their operations.

The release notes the sirens and strobe lights are placed along the Puntledge River from the Comox Dam to Puntledge Park to warn of river flow increases.

Permanent river safety signage is in place to advise what the siren sound means, and when heard, to move out of the river channel.

As the weather warms, Louwers says it’s natural for people to want to escape the heat and cool off in the water.

About 500 people may be along the Puntledge River system at any given time on a summer day.

However, she says It takes only 15 to 30 centimetres of fast flowing water to knock a person off their feet.

The Puntledge River hydroelectric system includes the Comox Dam, where the water released travels 3.7 kilometres down to the Puntledge River Diversion Dam.

From there, a minimum fish habitat flow is provided down the river with the majority of water directed down a 5-kilometre penstock to the generating station.