Despite the heat, water thunders with a steady rumble from the new concrete box-shaped culvert, churning as it surges into the estuary.
It is currently freshet season—when snowmelt causes rivers to swell—so the snowmelt-cooled water from the Squamish River will keep the estuary cooler as the temperatures above it soar into the 30s on the afternoon of June 6, and over the weekend that follows.
If you frequent the Squamish River Estuary, also known as Skwelwil'em, you know that the Squamish River Training Berm was closed to traffic from March through the end of May as restoration work was underway as part of the Central Estuary Restoration Project (CERP).
(The road is reopened now.)
The project is a partnership between the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Squamish River Watershed Society.
Last Friday, The Squamish Chief took a tour to get a look at the work that has been done.
During the recent construction, the fourth and final fish-friendly culvert was installed across the Squamish River Training Berm, completing Phase 1 of the CERP.
A brief history
The training berm was originally a five-kilometre structure built in the early 1970s, “to contain the Squamish River and confine the Squamish estuary for a proposed coal port development at the south end of the estuary,” according to the Howe Sound Biosphere Initiative Society.
While the coal port never materialized due to public opposition and government environmental assessments, the berm remained.
With originally only two inadequate culverts, “numbers of chinook salmon returning to the Squamish River watershed to spawn have been low since the mid-1970s, when numbers dropped from over 20,000 to under 3,000. It has often been noted that this decline coincided with the construction of the training berm,” notes the Howe Sound Biosphere Initiative Society.
About two decades ago, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) put in a series of nine culverts connecting the Squamish River to the estuary through the berm.
They were a little over a metre wide and made of corrugated metal.
"They brought a little bit of water, a little bit of sediment, but generally highly inefficient for any sort of fish passage or real efficiency of bringing all the nutrients from the sediments we want to bring from the headwaters down into the central estuary to make it a really robust environment," said Squamish River Watershed Society spokesperson Patricia Heintzman, who previously served on District council as mayor and a councillor.
"So, that was 20 years ago. It was an OK first effort, but we quickly realized it wasn't working really well."
For young salmon, after being born in freshwater rivers or streams, estuaries provide ideal sheltered environments, allowing the fry to become accustomed to saltwater, feed, and grow before heading out into Howe Sound.
Think of estuaries as fish nurseries.
If they don't have this shelter and are shot out from the river directly into Howe Sound, they are more vulnerable, thus reducing their chances of survival.
The three-metre by three-metre concrete culvert Heintzman stands above is the fourth of four of the original nine that were replaced as part of the CERP project.
The cooling of the estuary is part of the goal of the culvert, in addition to helping fish move through.
“We are so pleased to be completing this phase of the project,” said Edith Tobe, project manager of CERP, in a news release.
“We are already seeing a multitude of salmon fry utilizing the area and travelling between the river and the estuary. It’s very encouraging for the overall and long-term health of this critically important and ecologically rich habitat.”
During the construction of the fourth culvert, they found that there is an underground stream, which Tobe said means it will never fully dry up, regardless of the heat.
Starting next year, the fish moving through this culvert will be tagged, Tobe said.
"We'll activate that in the spring of next year. We'll put sensors in here, tag the fish and their GPS, so we can track every single fish that we tag and watch them as they go in and out, and see as they move around," Tobe told The Squamish Chief.
"All the other three culverts have been monitored over the years, just not this year, and we've always found fish going through all three, and especially across the spit. So when we do that next year, we're going to be very interested to see how many are now using this channel and using the different channels."
Sediment can already be seen moving through the culvert, too.
Tobe says that is as nature intends.
"All of the sediment helps to build an estuary—sediment and wood. I know in our minds as a society, we think sediment and build up is really bad, but this is what an estuary is built up with. This is the foundation of what the invertebrates hang out in," she said, adding that the turbid water leaving the culvert becomes clear as it moves through the estuary channels.
"When we get those lovely floods, it flushes it, and the fish help to move that sediment. But the sediment is a really rich part—it's the nutrients."
With the help of a cavalry of volunteers, freshly planted pollinator and fruit-bearing plants, which the resident bears will enjoy.
Black bears—including two sets of mother black bears with cubs—frequent the estuary, Tobe noted, which is where they should be, rather than around houses and businesses elsewhere.
Project timeline
The CERP project began in 2019 and 2020 with the replacement of two of the four old culverts across the Squamish River Training Berm.
From 2021 to 2023 there was the removal of 850 metres at the southern end of the training berm, or Squamish Spit. Work on the final two culvert replacements was done last fall and this spring.
In terms of the removal of the spit and its impact, such as on sediment build-up, that is being monitored above and below the watermark for five years.
"The first four or five years, you're going to see lots of changes ... but then it'll settle down, and you'll start to see what the norm will be. And there's been tonnes of sediment transportation, but it's in different places [than before]," said Heintzman.
Tobe added that the most recent surveying was done in May.
"We compare year after year the changes. And we're not in denial, there's going to be changes. Some years there'll be an accumulation [of sediment]. Some years there'll be a deficit, but it's the net overall. Our model showed that ultimately, in front of the Squamish Terminals, it should start to diminish. There's always going to be accumulation, I want to be very clear about this, but it shouldn't be adding to the annual [amount], it should be diminishing."
Public amenities
The end of the training berm is getting a bit of a facelift, too. There are new plants and a walkway with a wooden kiosk. Heintzman said the society is still working with the Nation and the District, but ideally, there will be educational signage about the project and the estuary added, as well as a welcome figure and public art.
Wheelchair-accessible picnic tables will be placed soon.
While she couldn't divulge all of the details publicly yet, Heintzman said a generous local bequeathed $100,000 for watershed education and improvement.
With Phase 1—the replacement of the four culverts—now complete, and Phase 2—the removal of the spit during the post-construction monitoring stage—concluded, CERP now enters the third and final phase of the project. This phase involves reestablishing historical connections between the central channel of the estuary and the degraded habitat on the east side of the CN rail spur line.
Construction on this phase is anticipated to begin in 2026.
Funders
The Central Estuary Restoration Project is made possible by funding from the Nature Trust of BC, BC Hydro’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Program (FWCP), Pacific Salmon Commission (PSC), Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF), and DFO’s Aquatic Ecosystems Recovery Fund (AERF), as well as in-kind DFO and Squamish Nation support, Tobe said.
Sensitive habitat
The estuary is a provincially designated Wildlife Management Area governed under the BC Wildlife Act that prioritizes conservation and the management of fish, wildlife and their habitats.
The estuary is also an important and internationally recognized International Birding Area.
Dogs must be leashed at all times within the estuary.
Find out more about the restoration of the Squamish River Estuary at the Restore the Shore website.
