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Location: Lower Fraser, Coquitlam River, BC Project Summary
Coquitlam River is consistently ranked high on the Outdoor Recreation Council’s list of endangered BC waterways. The river has been negatively impacted over the last century by the Hydro dam, industry, urban growth, agriculture, and other pressures. In spite of these major impacts the fish stocks have managed to be preserved and are showing some signs of improvement. This delicate balance is fragile and decisive action is required today to ensure success into the future. There are many jurisdictions that are actively working and studying different aspects of the Coquitlam River including the Cities of Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam, BC Hydro, Fisheries and Oceans, the Aggregate Industry, and the Kwikwetlem First Nation. The Coquitlam River watershed is part of the traditional territory of the Kwikwetlem First Nation. The Band lives on the Coquitlam River and is working hard to restore their culture, traditions and livelihood, all of which depends on a healthy Coquitlam River. To that end, the Band is presently working on a separate initiative for the lower reaches of the Coquitlam River, an area approximately one third the distance between the Fraser River and the Coquitlam dam. The First Nation study is largely technical in nature and is focused on hydrology, flooding, water quality and fishery resources. Much of their settlement area, including the graveyard, is subject to flooding and this study is looking to find solutions to flooding while restoring/enhancing fishery and other environmental and spiritual values. The primary goal of this project is to initiate the planning process for achieving a multi-interest governance structure for the Coquitlam River watershed that will collectively address the long-term sustainability of the Coquitlam River. This is a significant challenge given the history, land use pressures and multiple jurisdictions operating on this river. The collective interests need to be brought together to develop a shared vision for the long-term sustainability of the watershed and to ensure that works being undertaken are efficient and effective and not working at cross purposes. The interests/stakeholders affecting the health of the Coquitlam River, at present, can be characterized as fractured and adversarial. There is a low level of trust amongst many of the interests; a lack of knowledge about the state of the existing biological health of the watershed; and a lack of understanding of the goals, objectives, vision and constraints that the other interests operate under. This project is the first step towards achieving this. It is building the foundation and setting the stage for a future phase when it is ‘handed off’ to the community interests to determine how best to move forward. We, the City of Coquitlam and the Kwikwetlem First Nation, are well positioned to do this initial work. The Objectives of this project for Phase 1 are: a. Hire a watershed coordinator to deliver the outputs listed below: b. Develop an accountability framework looking at the many stakeholders and the various legislation and mandates. This would allow us to understand the conflicting and similar objectives of Government, Hydro, Industry, and stewards within a legislative and strategic context. c. Researching and summarizing the many documents relevant to overall health of the river including BC Hydro Water Use Plan, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, City documents, DFO, industry etc. d. Identify watershed interests; build an understanding of their interests/perspectives; establish a dialogue; and build interest and support for this project. |
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