The salmon population in the rivers around Squamish is getting a boost from a program that provides funding for wildlife affected by BC Hydro dams.
Two conservation projects in the upper Squamish River and the Dave Marshall Salmon Reserve will benefit from $150,000 from the Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program. This will improve spawning, rearing and overwintering habitats for chum, chinook, coho, pink and steelhead salmon.
“The projects were selected based on the impacts of the Daisy Reservoir,” said Edith Tobe, executive director of the Squamish River Watershed Society, the organization in charge of the projects.
“We are upgrading and maintaining former restoration sites. Our focus is primarily to provide overwintering and rearing habitat for coho, and all other species as well.”
While the watershed is rich in species diversity, it also faces pressure from urban, recreational and industrial development that has resulted in loss of salmon habitat and a decline in the number of salmon in the Squamish River and its tributaries.
BC Hydro’s Daisy Lake Dam was built in 1957 on the Cheakamus River.
“We have the five species of salmon that need to be protected, as well as cutthroat and arctic char,” said Tobe. “Our focus for these projects is on juveniles.”
The work done on the upper Squamish River Watershed will include High Falls Creek, adjacent to the Daisy Reservoir penstocks, Branch 100 Creek and Mile 22 Creek to improve access to salmon stocks by enhancing habitat features, including boulder clusters and debris structures.
The project at the Dave Marshall Salmon Reserve will restore and upgrade several main groundwater and river intake channels on Cheakamus Centre property, the home of an overnight outdoor school owned by the North Vancouver School District. Dave Marshall, a fisheries biologist, pioneered the idea for a groundwater spawning channel. The first channel of its kind, the Upper Paradise channel, was built in 1982 along the Cheakamus River.
Today, many local salmon spawning and rearing habitats are located at Cheakamus Centre. Children have the chance to learn from the increasing number of salmon spawning in the area, which is the result of three decades of work to restore their habitat.
“Our restoration projects near Squamish go back 20 years,” said Tobe.
The Squamish River Watershed Society’s restoration projects, which were selected after being reviewed by a committee with the Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program, are two of 41 fish and wildlife projects that received funding in the Coastal Region. BC Hydro is funding nearly $2 million for the 2016/2017 year for projects in the region.
