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Location: Thompson, Prince George Project Summary The Pacific Salmon Foundation and Fraser Basin Council will study potential threats to wild salmon in BC from the mountain pine beetle, which has infested forests across the province. While most people in BC recognize that the mountain pine beetle infestation is having serious social, economic and environmental consequences to the forests and forest communities, the impact to the aquatic ecosystem is not as apparent. Through their jointly managed Fraser Salmon and Watersheds Program, the Pacific Salmon Foundation and Fraser Basin Council sponsored a regional workshop in Prince George to look at the impacts of Mountain Pine Beetle and potential threats to salmon habitat. As a result of the workshop, a technical advisory committee has beens formed to identify the anticipated impacts of mountain pine beetle on salmon and resident freshwater fish—as the kill-off of trees could mean loss of shade in fish habitat, as well as changes to water flow and temperature. The committee is expected to investigate ongoing monitoring that may be required to document the impacts to the fisheries resource and to recommend potential adaptive management strategies. Participants at a workshop sponsored by the Fraser Salmon and Watersheds Program in Prince George in January identified the need to start discussion with all the key stakeholders to identify what the impacts are, how we may be able to plan for them and, if at all possible, mitigate them.
Location: Thompson, Fortune Creek, near Armstrong, BC Project Summary Fortune Creek is a regulated system that supplies water to approximately 2,500 residences in Armstrong and the Spallumcheen Valley in the North Okanagan. Fortune Creek has gone dry almost every summer since 1999 in a section of river located north of the City of Armstrong. The reason why the creek is disappearing through this section is not clear. Many creeks in BC’s Southern Interior are maintained by the inflow of groundwater throughout the summer and fall. Lower snow-pack levels, longer summer droughts, and increasing demands for water have resulted in lower groundwater tables in many areas. Low water levels in the lower stretch of creek below the dry section increasingly results in summer water temperatures that are lethally warm to the resident rainbow trout, juvenile coho, and juvenile chinook. While the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and City of Armstrong have worked co-operatively to try and maintain creek flows to sustain fish populations, stream flow management has become increasingly difficult. Thousands of dollars have been spent on riparian restoration in the lower reaches of the creek, but it is increasingly apparent that water quantity and temperature, not streambank habitat, are the limiting factors for salmonid conservation in this creek and many others like it in the Thompson-Okanagan Region of BC. A research assistant from the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus is looking at the existing information that is known about the creek and designing a research project for this summer. The end goal is to find a way to ensure water flow in lower Fortune Creek is sustainable for both the fish and people of the Spallumcheen Valley. The partners in this project consist of representatives from the City of Armstrong, Township of Spallumcheen, Spallumcheen Indian Band, White Valley Community Association (neighbouring community), Pacific Salmon Foundation, University of British Columbia, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the BC Ministry of Environment.
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