British Columbiasa国际传媒檚 forests watchdog says a complaint about sa国际传媒渆xcessivesa国际传媒� logging has led to a call for the province to improve how it manages watersheds.

The Forest Practices Board says it looked at harvesting in the Kettle River watershed in southeastern B.C. between 2016 and 2021, finding 58 per cent of 169 large cut blocks were located in sa国际传媒渟ub-watershedssa国际传媒� later determined to be sa国际传媒渁t risk.sa国际传媒�

A statement from the board says it found five of seven forest companies did not conduct watershed assessments during that period, nor did they have to.

Board chair Keith Atkinson says the reviews are vital for managing land use and hydrology, but B.C. does not require logging companies to consider watershed conditions in their plans, except in areas that supply drinking water to communities.

The board says it found the ministry had assessed harvesting in the area, identifying sa国际传媒渟hortcomingssa国际传媒� and prompting improvements by the forest companies.

But the report says investigators found a lack of government monitoring in the watershed that spans more than 8,000 square kilometres east of Kelowna.

sa国际传媒淭he investigation found that government paid attention to licenseessa国际传媒� activities and conducted assessments of licenseessa国际传媒� activities in the watershed,sa国际传媒� it says.

sa国际传媒淗owever, (the province) neither systematically monitored their activities nor provided clear guidance on managing cumulative effects aimed at protecting the watershedsa国际传媒檚 health.sa国际传媒�

The ministry and professional associations have since developed initiatives providing information and tools to address cumulative effects, the board says.

sa国际传媒淟ooking forward, the board encourages ministry staff and licensees to use the current information and tools available to improve watershed management,sa国际传媒� Atkinson says in the statement issued Tuesday.

The report notes the investigation did not determine whether harvesting large cut blocks had negatively affected hydrology.

But it found that companies were harvesting large areas in at-risk watersheds, which may elevate the risk of hydrological impacts, the report says.

The boardsa国际传媒檚 investigation began in March 2021, when the watchdog says it received a complaint from a member of the public.

The complainant was sa国际传媒渃oncerned the scale of clear-cut harvesting in the watershed had exceeded acceptable levels, leading to changes in seasonal water flows and increasing the risk of floods,sa国际传媒� the board says in its statement issued Tuesday.

The probe also found harvesting 55 of the cut blocks focused on imitating natural disturbance patterns, which led to the logging of sa国际传媒済reen timber,sa国际传媒� the board says.

Left standing, Atkinson says the timber can help guard against logging impacts.

sa国际传媒淭his is especially important if a watershedsa国际传媒檚 health is already at risk,sa国际传媒� he says.