Salmon Habitat Restoration Program (SHaRP)

Year 2008
Proponent City of Surrey
Project type Engagement
Project type Habitat
Project type Fisheries
FSWP funding source DFO Fraser Basin Initiative
Grant amount $10,000
Total project value $302,680
Other project funders

City of Surrey
Ministry of Environment
Habitat Conservation Trust Fund
Walmart - Evergreen Foundation

ID number 08 HPR D55

Location: Fraser Valley, City of Surrey

Project Summary

Established in 1996, the SHaRP is a student-based initiative promoting watershed stewardship and habitat enhancement for fish species within the City of Surrey.  SHaRP’s roles in the community are to protect and improve areas of fish habitat, provide community education, and increase awareness of the importance of urban streams for indigenous freshwater fish species.

SHaRP activities can be generally divided into one of two categories: education initiatives or habitat restoration work.  The Community Education Team and the Industrial Education Team accomplish the education initiatives.  The Community Education Team attends community events and visits daycares, camps and preschools to spread messages of environmental stewardship to local children and the community at large.  The Industrial Education Team focuses on the industrial and business community and informs them of best management practices and the importance of urban streams in our watershed.  In addition to industrial education, they conduct stream clean-up and neighbourhood awareness campaigns. Due to the scope of works of the education teams, there are no set project methodologies for these teams to follow.  The activities accomplished by these teams change each year to emphasize the talents of the current team leaders.  This allows these teams to creatively convey stewardship messages to children, youth and adults. 

The habitat restoration teams work in agricultural areas or riparian zones around urban streams.  The Agricultural Stewardship Team works on the former while the Watershed Enhancement team works on the latter.  Potential sites are forwarded to the SHaRP teams from DFO, the Ministry of Environment, City of Surrey operations crews or concerned citizens.  The SHaRP teams then conduct site assessments to gauge the amount and difficulty of work in May or June and then complete restoration works at sites throughout the duration of the program. A detailed site prescription of the site characteristics, the site works completed, a map and photos of the site are recorded for each location.

SHaRP teams will perform restoration work in and around watercourses that will directly contribute to improving fish habitat by preventing stream banks from eroding, invasive species from dominating riparian areas, and pollution from entering watercourses.  Community outreach programs and activities at community events will educate Surrey residents of stewardship initiatives and instill best management practices for businesses and landowners.  SHaRP also provides youth with valuable work experience in environmental management.  These students develop a strong stewardship mentality through their work with SHaRP by having an increased awareness of Surrey’s salmonids and a sense of ownership for the habitats they enhance.


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