I am afraid that many do not understand how estuaries form and inexorably progress to forested/drier land.
For an estuary to continue to exist as a wetland, there must be progressive growth at the seaward end. This is hardly happening in Squamish.
We have an active port, which involves regular and expansive dredging (snipping off the growth end of the productive estuary land). What is not being used by the port facility and urban development is being used for log sorting and storage, leaving a smaller and smaller area for wetland.
Meanwhile the more mature estuary to the north is getting drier and will eventually be swallowed by unscrupulous developers. We are starting to see furtive surveying ribbons and pegs appear among the shrubbery.
The whole peninsular is going to be severely developed and will encroach on any land that is showing any sign of progression to drier land. The Western Estuary is relatively untouched at present but would be vulnerable if a suggested bridge over the river were built.
Remember that the present downtown of Squamish was once estuary wetland - and not so long ago. Our present estuary is becoming rather like a shrinking wet museum.
What we should be doing, if we want to continue having a port facility, is constructing a floating port which extends out into the Sound in front of the “growing” estuary. This could be then connected by a thin bridge (floating or not).
The Chinese and Arabs in Dubai are very good at building structure on the water.
Note: My point is that, due to the apparent lack of understanding about estuaries, we will lose it soon because of the continued apical dredging which I mentioned. The estuary will simply disappear due to ecological succession regardless of any development further back/north. In short, the developers will find that the land has become drier, and for the ‘pickings’!
Dave Colwell
Garibaldi Highlands
