Conservationists fear for Vancouver Island salmon amid drought-like conditions

As summer-like conditions creep into early October, water levels on the Nanaimo River are low. That is bad news for spawning Chinook salmon.

"Most of them are stuck down in the deep pools in the lower river where they can’t get up and get to their spawning grounds," said Brian Banks, manager of the Nanaimo River Hatchery.

On Wednesday, the City of Nanaimo released water from its reservoir into the Nanaimo River. It is the first time a release has been needed in five years.

"This water release is going to help the Chinook mostly get up to their spawning grounds," said Banks.

On the South Island, the Colquitz River is extremely low as well.

"The salmon have been seen jumping and holding in Portage Inlet," said Dorothy Chambers, with local environmental group Salmon in the City.

Waiting for rain, those Coho salmon will stay put in the inlet until the rains come. The problem is, seals have moved into the area feasting on those waiting salmon.

"We need to have a very good rainfall, which is called the flush," said Chambers.

The first rains will flush the urban storm drains of their toxins, like oil from roads.

Many storm drains run into the Colquitz River and those toxins have been proven fatal to Coho salmon.

There is a weir at Beaver Lake that can feed the Colquitz River when it gets low.

"I don’t want to see water released quite yet because we haven’t had that first flush," said Chambers.

Nicolette Watson, stock assessment technician with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, agrees that rainfall is needed in the region.

"We very much need rain all around the coast right now," she said. "It’s very dry."

MASS DIE-OFF

A graphic example of what prolonged summer weather can do to salmon populations was recorded in Bella Bella, B.C. last week.

Tens of thousands of salmon were seen lying dead in a dried up riverbed in Bella Bella.

"It’s unheard of," said William Housty, conservation manager with Heiltsuk Integrated Resource Management Department.

"Nobody in the community has ever seen anything like this before."

Tens of thousands of dead salmon are pictured in Bella Bella, B.C.

The mass die-off is part of a growing problem that salmon experts say we're going to see more of in the future.

"As global warming continues at the pace that it’s at," said Lina Azeez with the Watershed Watch Salmon Society.

In the Comox Valley, BC Hydro has redirected the water flows from the Comox Lake Reservoir into the Putledge River because the river is getting low.

On Tuesday, flows were also reduced on the Cowichan River to conserve water due to a dry forecast.

According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, rains are expected to arrive on Monday, but only about five millimetres, which is still not enough to make a difference on our thirsty rivers.