Growing fears that flooding has damaged salmon runs in urban rivers and creeks
There are some major concerns about Vancouver Island's urban rivers and creeks after heavy rains caused them to overflow their banks.
“My marine biologist people feel that this has really done a lot of damage to our salmon run this year,” said Dorothy Chamber, of the Salmon in the City Project.
On Tuesday, the Colquitz River was five feet higher than it currently is.
Raging waters pushed logs and other debris down the river.
“Which then takes out the reds, which is the gravel nest where the salmon eggs are,” said Chambers.
This year has been a challenging one for coho salmon in the Colquitz.
Summer drought nearly dried up the river. Then otters got into fish counting pens and ate a good number of returning salmon. Now, it’s too much water, all at once, that has possibly wiped out any progress the salmon did manage to make.
It’s not all bad news though. The damage could have been worse, according to Eva Riccius, Senior Manager of Saanich Parks.
Last September, Saanich completed work on the river, creating side pools in increase salmon habitat. Those pools overflowed during the heavy rains, but that also took pressure off of the river, slowing it down and preventing further damage.
“This has stood up amazingly,” said Riccius. “I mean, the water was very high, but still, I think without it we would have fared worse.”
Over on Millstream Creek in Langford, waters are still raging and the concerns are the same.
“At this point in time, the coho eggs that would be in here would be very fragile,” said Ian Bruce, executive co-ordinator of the Peninsula Streams Society.
“Any sort of shock to them, it’s going to kill them.”
Bruce estimates the waters in narrow parts of the creek rose by three meters.
He fears this year's coho return could be in jeopardy, but says we won’t know how bad it truly is until the spring. That’s when fry begin to hatch.
“So we’ll know how many of these eggs survived because we’ll know by the number of fry that we see,” said Bruce.
He says B.C. is seeing more major storm events, and it’s only expected to get worse.
He wants to see municipalities planning developments better along the banks of urban waterways. This would allow for floodplains, so that rivers can safely spill their banks and not be forced to push all that extra water down-stream.
“Don’t build so close to the creeks,” said Bruce. “Use those areas for playing fields and parkland that can be flooded during storm events without property damage or without confining the water to a channel.”
The federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) says it is closely monitoring the situation. Once the storm waters recede, DFO will work with its local partners to help asses the long-term impact the floods had on Pacific salmon.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet
NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth hadn't sent home any understandable data since last November.
opinion Why you should protect your investments by naming a trusted contact person
Appointing a trusted person to help with financial obligations can give you peace of mind. In his personal finance column for CTVNews.ca, Christopher Liew outlines the key benefits of naming a confidant to take over your financial responsibilities, if the need ever arises.
U.S. Senate passes bill forcing TikTok's parent company to sell or face ban, sends to Biden for signature
The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers that's expected to face legal challenges.
Train derailed in Sarnia after colliding with a truck
Police are investigating after a transport truck collided with a train in Sarnia.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Wildfire southwest of Peace River spurs evacuation order
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.