STORIES

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

A Giant Leap: Of Culvert Proportions

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Community: Fraser Valley

Growing up in the Lower Mainland, most of the salmon-bearing streams have been converted to culverts and paved over.  I grew up in the Sapperton neighbourhood of New Westminster and the only salmon stream or river in that area besides the Fraser River is the Brunette River.  I remember playing in and around the Brunette as a child and fondly remember seeing salmon looking for a tributary of the Brunette to make their life cycle complete.

There was one culvert that emptied out into the Brunette about 16-18 inches above water level.  This was most likely from a storm sewer runoff, and looking up into the culvert, I saw about six successful fish which had made the leap of faith and were successful in finding a protected area in which to pair up and leave their eggs and sperm.  It was comforting, and still is for me to know that salmon are strong enough and resilient enough to find areas in which to complete their life cycle—even the inner city.

S. Taylor
Brunette River (Near New Westminster), BC