Central Kootenay, Electoral Area J

Its land, ranked in BC

Shares of the land area, worked out from the Province's maps. Fire perimeters before the 1950s are less complete. A title or a past fire somewhere in the area says nothing about a given lot: a property report checks the parcel itself.

Large fires (1,000 ha or more) since 1990

Since 1990, 7 wildfires of 1,000 ha or more burned in Area J, together 36,008 ha, 20% of its land (ground that burned twice counts once). The most here was the Michaud Creek #1 wildfire in 2021, 14,079 ha.

1. 2021Michaud Creek #1 wildfire14,248 ha in all · 99% of it here14,079 ha here
2. 2021Octopus Creek wildfire22,042 ha in all · 48% of it here10,590 ha here
3. 2018Syringa Complex - Deer Creek wildfire3,849 ha in all3,849 ha here
4. 2018Unnamed fire N525483,112 ha in all3,112 ha here
5. 2018Syringa Complex - Bulldog Mountain wildfire2,228 ha in all2,228 ha here
6. 2018Mt. O wildfire1,195 ha in all · 96% of it here1,149 ha here
7. 2015Deer Creek Park wildfire1,240 ha in all · 83% of it here1,024 ha here

Smaller mapped fires since 2016

Since 2016, the BC Wildfire Service mapped 20 smaller fires (under 1,000 ha) that reached Area J, newest first. This season's are as mapped by November 9, 2026.

1. 2026Unnamed fire N511642.8 ha in all2.8 ha here
2. 2026Unnamed fire N519910.7 ha in all0.7 ha here
3. 2025Northside Mount Mackie wildfire183 ha in all183 ha here
4. 2025Bugle Creek wildfire108 ha in all · 74% of it here80 ha here
5. 2025Unnamed fire N5082213 ha in all13 ha here
6. 2024Broadwater wildfire4.7 ha in all4.7 ha here
7. 2024Unnamed fire N525801 ha in all1 ha here
8. 2024Unnamed fire N522220.5 ha in all0.5 ha here

And 12 more

1. 2024Unnamed fire N520740.1 ha in all0.1 ha here
2. 2023Upper Norns Creek wildfire99 ha in all99 ha here
3. 2022Johnson Creek wildfire1.6 ha in all1.6 ha here
4. 2021Sunshine Creek wildfire37 ha in all37 ha here
5. 2021Beavervale Creek wildfire32 ha in all32 ha here
6. 2021Merry Creek wildfire21 ha in all21 ha here
7. 2018Unnamed fire N52723805 ha in all805 ha here
8. 2018Unnamed fire N5247716 ha in all16 ha here
9. 2018Unnamed fire N5303911 ha in all11 ha here
10. 2018Unnamed fire N525643.3 ha in all3.3 ha here
11. 2017Unnamed fire N512189.1 ha in all9.1 ha here
12. 2017Unnamed fire N502941.6 ha in all1.6 ha here

Small fires that were never mapped as a perimeter aren't listed: the BC Wildfire Service maps an outline for only some of the fires it records. Past fire is history, not a forecast. The chance of fire on a lot today depends on what the record doesn't show: the forest and grass around it, the slope, what has been thinned or burned since, and how far it is from a fire hall. Every BC season and large fire since 1990.

Sources: BC Wildfire Fire Perimeters – Historical, BC Wildfire Service; BC Wildfire Fire Perimeters – Current, BC Wildfire Service; BC Wildfire Fire Incident Locations – Historical, BC Wildfire Service; BC Wildfire Fire Locations – Current, BC Wildfire Service (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), as published on November 10, 2026; 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence). Outlines simplified and places measured by PlaceDossier.

How the land burned

On the Province's ecosystem map, Area J's land is 55% NDT2 (burned in large fires about every 200 years), 30% NDT3 (burned in large fires about every 100 to 150 years), 11% NDT4 (burned often and lightly, every 4 to 50 years), 3% NDT1 (rarely burned, about every 250 to 350 years and in patches) and 1% NDT5 (alpine tundra and subalpine parkland). Its main biogeoclimatic zones are Interior Cedar–Hemlock (67%) and Engelmann Spruce–Subalpine Fir (33%). In the dry forest and grassland of NDT4, a century of putting fires out has let many stands fill in, building up fuel that can carry a crown fire instead of a light surface fire. This is how the land burned before fires were put out, not its fire risk today. A report names the type over a lot. Every place's natural fire regime.

Source: BEC Map (biogeoclimatic zones and natural disturbance types), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), read 2026-10-12; areas worked out on the census boundaries.

Evacuations since April 2017

Since April 2017, the Province's record holds 2 wildfire events with an evacuation order or alert over Area J, 1 with an order. The latest order: Michaud Creek Wildfire, July 2021.

1. 2021Michaud Creek WildfireJuly 2021 · evacuation order · Regional District of Central Kootenay1 home
2. 2018Syringa Park WildfireAugust 2018 · evacuation alert · Regional District of Central Kootenay82 homes

Listed when an order or alert area covered at least 5% of the land in Area J, or lay mostly in Area J and held at least 5% as many homes as the 2021 census counted there. An order means people were told to leave; an alert, to be ready to leave. Homes are the record's own counts, area by area, shown where the areas lie mostly in Area J. The Province's record starts in April 2017: earlier evacuations aren't in it. A lot's report checks every order and alert over the lot itself, and any in effect now.

Sources: Historical Orders and Alerts, Emergency Management and Climate Readiness (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), as published on November 2, 2026; 2021 census subdivision boundaries and dwelling counts, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence). Each order and alert area placed in the municipalities and electoral areas it covers by us.

Evacuations for floods, landslides and other hazards since April 2017

Since April 2017, the Province's record holds 1 flood event with an evacuation order or alert over Area J, alerts only. The latest: an unnamed flood, May 2020.

1. 2020Unnamed floodMay 2020 · evacuation alert (flood) · Regional District of Central Kootenay

Listed when an order or alert area covered at least 5% of the land in Area J, or lay mostly in Area J and held at least 5% as many homes as the 2021 census counted there. An order means people were told to leave; an alert, to be ready to leave. Homes are the record's own counts, area by area, shown where the areas lie mostly in Area J. The Province's record starts in April 2017: earlier evacuations aren't in it. A lot's report checks every order and alert over the lot itself, and any in effect now.

Sources: Historical Orders and Alerts, Emergency Management and Climate Readiness (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), as published on November 2, 2026; 2021 census subdivision boundaries and dwelling counts, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence). Each order and alert area placed in the municipalities and electoral areas it covers by us.

12 landslides are recorded inside Area J in the Preliminary Canadian Landslide Database (version 14.0), including 4 debris flows, 2 debris avalanches and 2 debris slides. The database lists slides known to have happened, mapped from inventories, satellite images and lidar. It isn't a hazard map, and some parts of BC are mapped in far more detail than others. Landslides near a given lot.

The Province lists 2 dams in Area J, all classed High or above for the harm a failure would do downstream: Hugh Keenleyside (Extreme) and Arrow Lakes Generating Dam (Extreme). The class rates what a failure would do, not how likely one is; a report names the dams within 1 km of a lot. Dams in BC, by place.

One Water Survey of Canada gauge in Area J has 5 or more years of yearly peak flows: Deer Creek at Deer Park peaked highest at 21.5 m³/s in 2006 (21 years on record). A gauge's record is the river where it stands, not a flood line; a report gives the nearest gauge on a river by the lot. River gauges in BC, by place.

Poor-air days: at the Castlegar Zinio Park air monitoring station, 2.9 km from Robson, fine particles passed the level of BC's 24-hour objective (25 µg/m³) on a median of 9 days a year over the 9 years with a full record, 2016 to 2025; the most was 36 days in 2021. Most of these days fell from June to September, the wildfire season (our reading: mostly wildfire smoke). How smoky it gets across BC.

Radon

In the Kootenay Boundary health region, 32 of the 109 homes tested (29%) in Health Canada's 2009–2011 survey were at or above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline; across BC, 143 of 1,817 (7.9%).

The survey tested about a hundred volunteer homes per health region, with one long-term test each. That gives a rough regional picture: it isn't a map, and a region where few or none tested high can still have homes above the guideline. The only way to know is to test the home: radon and buying a home in BC.

Source: Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011), Health Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Health Service Delivery Area Boundaries, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia).

Check one lot: has it burned? · is it on a floodplain map? · is it behind a dike? · is there a dam nearby? · landslides nearby? · contaminated sites nearby? · radon? · how much is too steep?

Source: Agricultural Land Reserve polygons, Agricultural Land Commission (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Fire perimeters – historical, BC Wildfire Service (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Mineral, placer and coal tenures, Mineral Titles Branch (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Preliminary Canadian Landslide Database, version 14.0 (May 2026), Brideau et al. (CC BY 4.0); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).

Area J is outside the Province's speculation and vacancy tax area, so the tax doesn't apply to a home here. Our summary of the Province's pages, read 2026-10-04. Where the tax applies, and who pays.

The typical home here is the median value owners gave the 2021 census, and the typical household's income is the median for 2020: a home that costs 4.8 years of income took that many years of a typical household's whole income. "Typical" for places its size is the middle of BC's rural electoral areas.

Source: Census of Population 2021, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).

In Area J, a zone limited to detached houses must allow at least one secondary suite or detached accessory home (a garden suite or carriage house) next to a house. A floor of 3 or 4 homes applies on rural land only inside an urban containment boundary drawn in a regional growth strategy, and most rural land is outside one. None of it applies on land in an Islands Trust local trust area or under a rural land use bylaw, and in the Agricultural Land Reserve the Commission's limits come first. How many homes you can build on a lot.

The Province's principal residence requirement doesn't apply in Area J (list in force from June 1, 2026), so the provincial rule doesn't limit short-term rentals to the host's home. Local bylaws, including the zone's own rules, can be stricter. Hosts anywhere in BC register each unit with the provincial registry. Short-term rental rules in BC.

Reports for lots in Area J can't name the zone: we have no open zoning map for it (see the places covered).

Ask the Central Kootenay Regional District for a lot's zone and what it allows.

The Regional District of Central Kootenay's building inspection covers all of Area J (Building Bylaw No. 2200, 2010): building, adding on, moving or demolishing a building needs a building permit, and the work is inspected. Our reading of the Regional District of Central Kootenay's own page, checked 2026-10-07. Do you need a building permit on rural land?

The Province maps 5 designated community watersheds, Norns Community Watershed, Deer Community Watershed and China Community Watershed among them, over 14% of Area J: land draining to a licensed drinking-water intake, where logging and roads on Crown land must protect the supply. A report says whether a lot lies in one and whose water it is. Community watersheds in BC, by place.

Check one lot: is it in the ALR? · is the soil good for farming? · is it in a community watershed?

Source: Agricultural Land Reserve polygons, Agricultural Land Commission (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).

Mapped aquifers

11 mapped aquifers lie in Area J, most wells first.

1. 1Aquifer 513: North Castlegar Bedrockfractured crystalline bedrock337 wells · moderate productivity
2. 2Aquifer 501: Castlegar Overburdenconfined sand and gravel (glacial)168 wells · moderate productivity
3. 3Aquifer 493: Salmo River Bedrockfractured sedimentary rock137 wells · moderate productivity
4. 4Aquifer 500: South Castlegar Bedrockfractured crystalline bedrock67 wells · moderate productivity
5. 5Aquifer 1284: Beaver Creek Overburdenunconfined sand and gravel (late glacial outwash)56 wells · moderate productivity
6. 6Aquifer 1283: Brilliant Bedrockfractured crystalline bedrock31 wells · moderate productivity
7. 7Aquifer 1282: Sunningdale/Glenmerry Bedrockfractured crystalline bedrock23 wells · moderate productivity
8. 8Aquifer 502: Robson, north of Columbia River and west of Castlegarunconfined sand and gravel (late glacial outwash)19 wells · moderate productivity
9. 9Aquifer 1276: Norns Creek Overburdenunconfined sand and gravel (late glacial outwash)12 wells · moderate productivity
10. 10Aquifer 990: North side Columbia River, west of Lower Arrow Lakefractured crystalline bedrock0 wells · moderate productivity

And 1 more

11. 11Aquifer 989: Ladybird Mountain, west of Norns Creekfractured crystalline bedrock0 wells · moderate productivity

An aquifer is listed for each place that holds at least a twentieth of it, so a sliver of one at the edge can be left out. Wells and productivity are for the whole aquifer, which can reach well beyond Area J. The province maps aquifers mostly in settled valleys, so a lot outside every outline can still have groundwater. Every mapped aquifer in BC · sampled lakes.

Sampled lakes

One sampled lake lies partly in Area J.

1. 1Lower Arrow Lake193 km² · 56% of it hereoligotrophic (inferred)

A lake is listed for each place that holds at least a twentieth of it or 100 ha of it. Clarity is the median summer Secchi depth; the nutrient class is our reading of Carlson's index from phosphorus or chlorophyll, not a provincial rating. Either is given only for a lake with at least 10 summer readings from open water, spread over at least 3 different years, since 2012. Most lakes have never been sampled, so a lake missing here may simply have no record. Every sampled lake in BC.

Source: Groundwater wells (GWELLS), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Ground Water Aquifers, Water Protection and Sustainability Branch, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); BC Environmental Monitoring Data System (EnMoDS) results, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).

The BC Energy Regulator maps about 6.5 km of active oil and gas pipeline in Area J, permitted to FortisBC Energy Inc. Under a kilometre is abandoned or deactivated, often still in the ground. A report lists any pipeline within 200 m of a lot, and flags one within 30 m, where digging needs the permit holder's agreement. Pipelines in BC, by place.

The Province lists 12 active waste discharge authorizations in Area J; the commonest kinds: sewage treatment or discharge site (7), concrete plant (2) and asphalt plant (1). Of these, 1 may discharge to air, 7 effluent to water or land and 1 refuse to land. A report lists any within 2 km of a lot, and flags one whose point is on it. Permitted discharges in BC, by place.

On ParcelMap BC, the land in Area J is 6% private, 20% Crown land with a parcel drawn (11% with no title); no parcel is mapped over 74%, likely most of it untitled Crown land, with lakes and road allowances. A report says who owns the land along a lot's line. Crown land next to a property, and every place's land by owner.

The Ministry of Forests maps 2 active Crown range tenures (2 grazing) reaching into Area J, over 18% of its area, licensed for about 1,213 animal unit months of grazing a year in all. Outside a pound district, keeping livestock off a lot is the owner's fence to build. A report lists any tenure within 1 km of a lot. Open range and grazing in BC, by place.

The Province maps 16 registered traplines over nearly all of the area and 2 guide outfitter territories over less than 1% in Area J. The maps are drawn over titled land too, but traplines are registered on Crown land: on titled land, anyone but the owner or occupier needs their written permission to trap. A report says whether either takes in a lot. Traplines and guiding territories in BC, by place.

Area J lies in wildlife management units 4-15 (39%), 4-14 (27%), 4-9 (21%), 4-8 (12%): the Hunting and Trapping Regulations Synopsis sets seasons and closed areas by unit. Hunting and shooting on your own property.

BC Parks maps 3 parks and protected areas (Champion Lakes Park, a provincial park; Gladstone Park, a provincial park; and Syringa Park, a provincial park) reaching into Area J, over 5% of its land. Recreation Sites and Trails BC lists 7 sites there. A report names the nearest park and recreation site within 25 km of a lot. Parks and recreation sites in BC, by place.

Check one lot: is there a mineral claim? · power lines nearby? · pipelines nearby? · a gravel pit nearby? · a landfill or plant nearby? · logging planned nearby? · cattle on open range? · is there a trapline? · can I hunt on it? · a park nearby? · Crown land next door?

Source: Mineral, placer and coal tenures, Mineral Titles Branch (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).

Census figures are from 2021; the next census results start in 2027. Area boundaries are Statistics Canada's census subdivisions, which follow municipal and electoral area lines. The places named at the top are the official place names in the area (BC Geographical Names) with the most 2021 homes nearer them than any other name, on ISED's home points: our reading.

Source: Census of Population 2021, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence); BC Geographical Names, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Pseudo-Household Demographic Distribution (2021), Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada).