Global InformationSooke Flowline information
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2023) |
Sooke Flowline | |
|---|---|
 A section of the Sooke Flowline | |
| Begins | Sooke Lake Reservoir |
| Ends | Humpback Lake, Sooke Hills Regional Park Reserve |
| Official name | Sooke Flowline/Aqueduct |
| Owner | CRD Water District |
| Characteristics | |
| Total length | 44 km (27 mi) |
| Diameter | 1.07 m (3 ft 6 in) |
| History | |
| Construction start | 1913 |
| Opened | 1915-1970 (East section) 1915-2009 (North Section) |
Credit: Sooke Region Historical Society.
The Sooke Flowline is an abandoned 44-kilometre (27 mi) concrete aqueduct that snakes through the Sooke Hills from Sooke Lake to the Humpback Reservoir, near Mount Wells Regional Park, in British Columbia, Canada. From this reservoir, a buried, riveted steel pressure main transported water to Victoria. Between 1994 and 2007, this main was replaced, since it was long past its useful life.[1] The flowline was vital to the continued growth of the city of Victoria, as it provided a reliable water supply. While the flowline remains, Victoria's water supply is now carried via Kapoor Tunnel. Leigh Hodgetts, CRD Waterworks superintendent, reported that the westernmost section of the flowline is still used to carry Sooke's water supply, via a 16-inch interconnecting pipe feeding the Sooke distribution system from Charters Creek to Sooke River Road.[2]
Elk Lake used to be the water supply for Victoria, and when the Colquitz River was dammed, it flooded the swamp and merged Elk and Beaver lakes. In the early 1900s, it was determined that Elk/Beaver Lake could no longer meet Victoria's water needs. The daily draw from the lake was too great, and despite measures taken to extend its useful life, such as filter ponds, the pressure and supply was too low, and sediment and amphibians were getting drawn out through the lake's intake.[3]
- ^ "Main No.1 Replacement Project". Archived from the original on August 24, 2013.
- ^ Peers, Elida (1999). The Sooke Story: the history and heartbeat. Sooke, BC: Sooke Region Museum. p. 192. ISBN 0-9694942-2X.
- ^ Pearson, Anne (1981). Sea-Lake: Recollections and History of Cordova Bay and Elk Lake. Victoria: Sea-Lake Editions. ASIN B000Q6459A.