South Coast New Habitat Prescriptions


Year 2008
Organization British Columbia Conservation Foundation
Project type Habitat
Project type Fisheries
FSWP funding source DFO Fraser Basin Initiative
Grant amount $18,000
Total project value $34,955
Other project funders

Living Rivers Georgia Basin
BC Conservation Corps
Ministry of Environment

ID number

08 HPR D104

Location: Lower Fraser, Fraser Basin South Coast of BC

Project Summary

Purpose:
This proposal is requesting support from Fraser Salmon and Watersheds Program (FSWP) for funds to continue habitat assessment and restoration prescription preparation on priority rivers in the Fraser Basin. 
Watershed.  Stream level assessments will be completed on systems that have been outlined in various recovery plans (e.g. the Steelhead Recovery Action Plan (Lill, 2002), or identified as high priority candidates through other programs or community roundtables such Pitt River Area Watersheds Network (PRAWN) or the Chilliwack River Watershed Strategy.  In addition, over the years of the GGBSRP, watershed concerns have been brought forth by: fisheries managers; local anglers; stream stewards; and fisheries professionals.  Habitat Assessments will be conducted Using the Fish Habitat Assessment Procedure (FHAP) of the BC Watershed Restoration Program (Johnston and Slaney, 1996).  Simultaneously, this project will identify and prepare watershed/stream channel habitat rehabilitation prescriptions for degraded watersheds based on field surveys that will evaluate the existing condition/quality of salmonid habitats. 

Results will form the basis of future restoration projects, and in some cases highlight critical habitat for protection or other conservation issues to be addressed with the appropriate government agencies or to sensitize for integrated action by community stewardship groups.  The long-term benefits will be the recovery or conservation of threatened anadromous fish populations through the development of scientifically based habitat restoration projects. The overall ecosystem-based strategy is to restore freshwater habitats in order to sharply improve egg-to-fry and particularly fry-to smolt survivals, thus offsetting as much as possible, global-warming induced reductions in smolt survivals in the ocean. 

Method:
Habitat Assessments will be conducted Using the Fish Habitat Assessment Procedure (FHAP) of the BC Watershed Restoration Program (Johnston and Slaney, 1996).  Habitat attributes measured during selected reach-scale analysis include: hydraulic units; bankfull and wetted widths; and depths (bankfull, mean wetted, maximum pool, and residual pool).  Additional recorded parameters will include various substrate characteristics; percent total and boulder cover; gradient; surface velocity; percent large woody debris frequencies within size categories; overhead cover; and cover types per habitat unit.  Off-channel habitats will also be quanitified and limitations assessed.  Potential or useable spawning sites will also be recorded.  As an improvement in the procedure, percent useable fry and parr habitat will be determined, by visually estimating useable depths, velocities and cover. 

Parameters recorded during the stream survey will then be converted to requirements suitable for interpretation based on FHAP diagnostic: percent pool; pool frequency or spacing per channel width; total large wood per channel width; functional large wood per channel width; percent woody debris in pools; percent boulder cover in riffles; percent total cover; percent woody debris in pools; percent overhead cover; and substrate quality.  Once this is completed, a rating value can then be applied to the reach length that was assessed, which is utilized to prescribe habitat rehabilitation measures

Fish Habitat Rehabilitation Prescriptions (FHRP) will largely follow guidelines in the Watershed Restoration Program’s Technical Circular 9, Fish Habitat Rehabilitation Procedures prepared by Slaney and Zaldokas, (1997), which has been refined via effectiveness monitoring conducted over the past decade.  Only on stream reaches where habitat deficiencies are severe enough to be reducing fish productivity, will a FHRP, be warranted.  Various habitat rehabilitation techniques will be recommended in a manner that will emulate a natural environment, derived from natural templates in un-degraded stream/river reaches. 

Final comprehensive reports will outline: background information; habitat assessment and habitat rehabilitation recommendations; project budgets; and estimated habitat and fish productivity gains.  It is estimated that 45 days will be required to complete the work by both, a fisheries/habitat scientist, and a fisheries technician.  Previous experience with assessments/prescriptions has generated a relatively accurate guideline of 1-1.5 km/day of field work.  Because habitat characteristics will vary with discharge, the survey will be conducted during low spring to summer flows. 

A watershed/habitat attribute review, and habitat rehabilitation prescription report would be prepared for the following rivers (see attached overview map): Coquihalla (2km), Cogburn (1km), Big Silver/Hornet Ck. (2km), Silverhope (1km), Kanaka Ck. (2km), north Alouette River (3km), upper Pitt River tributaries (3 trib’s), and Chehalis (3km).  The selection of rivers, as well as river lengths designated to be reviewed will need to remain adaptive to best suit the nature of the review and the outcomes from discussions with appropriate fisheries agencies, and stakeholders. 
All of these streams have important steelhead and salmon runs, community involvement and concerns, or pressing management concerns.  Although the above river systems have been selected as key or priority concern, this list may be further short-listed as per Ministry of Environment, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and local stakeholder’s requests and recommendations. 

In systems such as the upper Pitt River, where preliminary project identification has already occurred, successive detailed project designs are still necessary.  This includes a water supply intake on Red Slough (groundwater component completed in 2007); and side-channel development plans on Forestry Creek (currently undergoing hydrogeological testing to determine feasibility). 

Continuing efforts will be made to engage the local community into the projects and will include members of: angling groups, local First Nations, and stream stewards.  Newly developed partnerships can: contribute unknown knowledge of the local watershed; provide an avenue to promote habitat protection and conservation awareness; leverage labour costs; expand and promote the program objectives; generate organizational support for project implementation; and strengthen funding proposals for future project implementation. 

Expected outcomes:
Habitat restoration prescriptions with supporting habitat assessment information form the foundation to project objectives, funding proposals, regulatory approvals and the delivery of the restoration works.  Comprehensive, level I and II Fish Habitat Assessments Procedures are required well in advance of commencing on-the-ground fish habitat rehabilitation projects. 

* Conduct Level I and II Fish Habitat Assessment/Rehabilitation Procedures on priority streams; with the goal of determining watershed/habitat deficiencies and fish production constraints.

* Prepare documents based on the review findings that will outline: habitat parameters; watershed/habitat constraints and “bottlenecks”; habitat rehabilitation measures (including flagged site locations and conceptual designs of rehabilitation measures); project feasibility; project budget; and priority.

* Develop partnership with local anglers, stream stewardship groups, First Nations and other fisheries agencies that will lead to greater efficiency and cost leveraging of future project implementation.



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