Endangered Rivers Nomination 2010 ( Endangered Rivers Nomination 2009 )
2009-2010 developments
1) More Evidence that very Low Smolt numbers in 2008 were likely due to the dropping Water Table. The Water Table is still the main concern.
We continue to see evidence that smaller tributaries that form the prime coho juvenile habitat (juveniles prefer to mature in the smaller tributaries rather than the main stem of the river) are drying up during the summer months. This was most evident in the summer of 2007 when the dry hot summer led to low water levels in many tributaries and even in parts of the main stem.
Smolt numbers in the spring of 2008 were extremely low (less than 16,000 vs. the average of 60,000) suggesting that the low water levels from the dry summer of 2007 may have dramatically reduced juvenile survival. Interestingly the 2009 smolt numbers, after the wet summer of 2008, were very high at 100,000 despite a small adult spawning population of less than 2,000 coho (ocean survival continues to be poor).
These dramatic differences in smolt numbers suggest that water levels in the river may be at a point where the river can no longer depend on recharge from the water table in the aquifer during the important summer months. If the water table continues to decline, during dry summers we may eventually face dry stretches of many more tributaries and even of parts of the main stem. This would have catastrophic effects on juvenile survival.
2) Failure of the provincial government to bring forward Groundwater Legislation.
Given the huge concern about the dropping water table it is very discouraging that the province continues to stall in bringing forward the Groundwater Legislation we need to stabilize the water table.
We are told that Phase 2 of the Ground Water Act has again been put on the shelf by the province. Instead the province has launched a public relations campaign under the label of “Living Water Smart”. This program appears to be a smoke screen to hide the lack of resolve by the province to deal with these important issues.
Phase 2 would require capping of flowing (artesian) wells which is a big part of the overuse problem in the Salmon River Uplands. Phase 2 contains other measures that we need now. We also need to move on to Phase 3 of the act asap if water issues are going to be addressed in Langley and in other parts of the province.
3) Failure of the local Water Management Plan and implications for a provincial Ground Water Act.
Langley and particularly the Salmon River area was selected by the province as a test case for Groundwater Legislation. A stakeholder group was launched 3 years ago to develop a plan. Like many stakeholder groups the user groups sat at the table and were able to slow progress.
The plan does not contain enough action measures to be effective in remedying water quantity and quality problems. For political reasons the plans no longer contains water metering, does not address agricultural and other big users effectively and talks about grandfathering existing users. Since the water table is dropping rapidly existing uses must be addressed to stabilize the water level and to avoid major negative consequences to the river.
Phase 3 of the Groundwater Act (should it ever come forward) suggests developing the same sort of stakeholder groups for other areas with water problems. Since this process has not worked well in Langley one has to question the thrust of Phase 3. The province will need to be pro-active and will need to address some of the critical issues with less fear of entrenched user groups if water issues are going to be solved in BC.
4) Wall property ALR exclusion in the watershed near Trinity Western University. Potential for negative impacts on the river especially with weakening of the setback protections due to RAR replacing stream setbacks.
The ALC approved (on appeal) an application for removal of parts of the Wall property near TWU from the ALR. The application would allow for almost 90 housing units on a very small part of the property that was deemed not suitable for agriculture. Tributaries of the Salmon River run through the property and may well be negatively impacted by development especially since we have seen a major decline in stream protection with stream setbacks replaced by provincial RAR rules. In addition, this removal from the ALR creates major conflicts as the property is not zoned for development nor is it serviced.
5) Wall Property sets a troubling precedent for the future of the ALR in the rest of the province.
The Wall exclusion is a very worrisome precedent that may dramatically weaken ALR protection across the province with significant negative effects on streams. Although there are issues with agricultural usage that need to be addressed to protect streams these issues are much more amenable to remedy that the issues we see after development of an area.
6) Dramatic increase in ALR exclusion applications in the Salmon River Watershed due to the Wall property precedent and the Langley water piping proposals (see 7).
We now have applications in the Salmon River watershed from:
1) Trinity Western to remove property from the ALR (16 acres)
2) A property adjacent to TWU asking for removal (40 acres)
3) The Tuscan Farm property (40 acres) trying to use the same arguments as the Wall property
4) Omelainec and neighbours at 56th and 238th (18 acres).
5) Properties adjacent to Gloucester industrial park (36 acres).
The total number of acres involved is about 150. Should any of these properties succeed many other properties in the Salmon River Uplands will likely also apply for removal. There is a major anomaly in the area as most of the area is zoned 1 acre (dating to before creation of the ALR) while much of the area is in the ALR. Langley and the Salmon River Uplands may well become the battleground that determines the fate of the ALR in BC given the pressure that is building here for exclusions.
7) Water Pipes through the Salmon River Uplands.
A shortage of water in Aldergrove (where the water table is also dropping) has prompted the Township of Langley to look at urgently pushing through Metro water pipes from the west of Langley through the Salmon River Uplands to Aldergrove. This could have major negative effects on the Uplands which hosts the most productive reaches of the Salmon River.
Once pipes go through there will be immense pressure to remove the moratorium on development in the area. Despite the arguments of developers water problems usually worsen with development. In addition, development causes increased flooding downstream which would play into the hands of the Fort Langley floodplain farmers. The floodplain issue must be dealt with first before development occurs upstream or the farmers may win their lawsuit (see 8) and force the same sort of drainage measures that decimated the Serpentine River in Surrey.
8) Fort Langley floodplain
Farmers in the floodplain are still attempting to force drainage by pursuing a law suit against the Township of Langley. Drainage of the floodplain would devastate the aquatic environment as it would require constructing a large bypass channel to carry water out to the Fraser. The bypass channel would effectively dewater the lower reaches of the river.
9) DFO Neglect
After over 20 years of following coho numbers in the Salmon River (Georgia Strait coho statistics have been generated for the most part from trapping and tagging of Salmon River juveniles and adults each year at the fish fence in the Fort Langley floodplain) DFO has abandoned the program. It is very troubling that DFO would abandon such a long and dependable data stream. One wonders how much of a commitment DFO has to preserving wild coho when they do not seem prepared to spend the resources to assess the stock. One also wonders if they really do not want to know how low adult numbers were in the fall of 2009 given that the 2008 smolt numbers for that brood were less than 16,000.
In addition it should be pointed out that the DFO “answer” to the problem, the Wild Salmon Policy, has been over 5 years in the making and still does not seem to be near the point where it will be a meaningful contribution. Meanwhile measures that we know will make a difference, such as more personnel in the field to protect habitat, are being neglected while DFO commits its resources to large bureaucracies and these sorts of ineffective efforts.
Salmon River Endangered Rivers Nomination 2009
Background
The Salmon River Watershed is an excellent example of the pressures facing small streams in semi-urban areas. While the river continues to host excellent habitat for coho, chum, steelhead and cut throat salmonids a number of factors are threatening the continued health of the river and the watershed. Many of these pressures and threats are shared with other urban and semi-urban streams. The river and the watershed have been studied much more extensively than other similar streams in the province (by Paish, Schreier and others) as the watershed has long been recognized as an important “test case” for water, habitat and coho issues in B.C.
The Salmon River is one of the Lower Fraser’s prime coho streams and has been designated a “key” stream by DFO and an index stream as adult coho and juvenile smolts have been counted and tracked in the system for over 20 years.. Unlike many other streams the salmonids are only the original wild strain as the river has not been supplemented nor has it been enhanced with hatchery fish. The counts in the Salmon River system constitute the main source of data for Georgia Strait coho enumeration.
The watershed was the test case for the development of a comprehensive multi-level governmental and community Watershed Management Plan in the 1990’s. Two years ago the area was also the first in B.C. to be given the authority by the province to develop a Water Management Plan in response to the falling water table and water quality issues in the Hopington aquifer which supplies the Salmon River. The health of the river depends on a consistent cool water supply from the Hopington aquifer to the many small tributaries that feed the 33 km long river. Juvenile coho prefer to rear in the smaller tributaries during their one year maturation before migrating out to the ocean as smolts.
The Salmon River floodplain is one of the few healthy floodplains remaining in the Lower Fraser as it has not been dredged, the meanders have not been straightened and it continues to be a healthy winter rearing area for coho. The floodplain is also an important recreation area (canoeing, fishing etc.) and is an important part of the history of Fort Langley (details below).
Issues that face the watershed include:
1) Attempts by Fort Langley farmers to have the floodplain drained.
2) Falling water tables compromising summer flows to the stream and its tributaries. .
3) Water quality problems including concerns about provincial gravel pits.
4) Invasive aquatic species multiplying in the stream
5) Development issues
6) Poor ocean survival of salmonids.
7) Lack of commitment from DFO and other governmental organizations.
We are seeing, as a result of these combined issues, worrisome decreases in adult coho and now smolt numbers in the river.
Further Details
1) Attempts by Fort Langley floodplain farmers to have the floodplain drained.
The Fort Langley floodplain farmers have initiated a legal action in an attempt to force the Township of Langley to drain the floodplain. They continue to ignore the negative effects that this would have on the river as fish habitat. Engineering studies show that drainage could only be achieved through major destruction of the river including bypass channels and dredging the river down well below the present level. This sort of major damage was allowed by DFO in Surrey which left the Serpentine River devastated. DFO approving dredging at Spring Bar on the Fraser has also increased pressure from farmers.
Dredging would likely remove the oxbows and meanders that have, until now, been undisturbed and make the floodplain of the Salmon River a unique canoeing experience. Several years ago Larry Pynn canoed the river from near Trinity Western University to the mouth. He identified this voyage as one of the best canoe routes in the Lower Mainland.
NB. Larry Pynn’s voyage retraced part of the route taken by the first Hudson’s Bay Company exploration party under James McMillan when they traveled to present day Fort Langley in 1824. The party followed the traditional aboriginal route which was the main travel corridor in and out of the Fraser Valley as the aboriginals did not like using the mouth of the Fraser due to the presence of hostile tribes. The route started at Mud Bay near White Rock with the party paddling up the Nicomekl (the Nicomekl was much wider than now as paddle wheelers were able to get up the river to Cloverdale until approval to dam and dyke after the 1948 floods was used by farmers to place dykes well within the river banks) to the present day Milner. From there they took a short portage to near where Trinity Western University is today and then floated down the Salmon River to the Fraser. The first salmon cannery in B.C. was established by the Fort as the barrels of salmon were shipped to Hawaii and other areas.
A Better Future The Salmon River Enhancement Society has suggested that the best use for the floodplain would be to keep it as natural as possible. Establishing walking trails in the floodplain which could connect with the Trans Canada Trail in Fort Langley would make the floodplain a unique area for recreation and for heritage and eco-tourism. This would benefit the floodplain landowners and the greater community of the Lower Mainland.
2) Water issues
a) Water quantity
The water table in the Hopington aquifer which surrounds the highly productive middle reaches of the Salmon River has been falling by 1 foot per year for over 20 years. During the very dry summer of 2006 water flows in the most productive middle reaches of the Salmon River were extremely low. It is likely that parts of the important small tributaries of the river dried out during that summer. Smolt numbers in 2007 were much lower than usual at less than 40,000 compared to the normal 60,000 suggesting that the low water levels did impact juvenile survival. If the water table continues to drop we will likely face more summers with very low flows which would further threaten the juvenile salmonids populations.
Although the province and the Township have spent years talking about this problem and are in the process of drawing up a Water Management Plan there are issues that were identified over 10 years ago that have still not been addressed. For example, excessive use of water from agricultural and other wells has long been identified as an important cause of the dropping water table. Issues that could have been addressed years ago include educating farmers and improving incentives for them to use drip irrigation (rather than spraying water on their fields) and education and incentives to encourage capping of the many artesian wells in the area.
b) Water quality
i) Brown Road Gravel pit
Despite a moratorium on gravel extraction in Langley the provincial government is threatening to open up a new gravel pit in a pastoral area of north Langley along Highway Number 1 at 240th Street. Gravel would be used for Port Mann bridge construction.
The gravel pit is near a major tributary of the Salmon River (Coghlan Creek supplies about 1/3 of the river’s water flow) and could have negative impacts on water quality. An existing pit next door was partially filled in 2 years ago (the province did not seek Township approvals and did not take appropriate precautions) with negative consequences to the water as there has been hog fuel leachate leaking into nearby wells ever since. This has likely had a negative effect on Coghlan Creek as well.
ii) Manure
Persisting problems with inadequate handling of manure from farming operations and dumping of manure on some private properties have still not been adequately addressed. Nitrate levels in the river and wells in the area continue to be high (above public health levels for babies but not for adults) and are continuing to rise in many areas.
3) Invasive species
The lower reaches of the river now contain large numbers of bass and pumpkin seed. It is unclear how much of a negative effect these species are having on the native coho and chum populations.
4) Development issues
a) Salmon River Uplands Water and sewer connections are being installed through the Hopington/Salmon River Uplands area to Aldergrove. The presence of pipes is increasing pressures to develop the area. At present the area is mostly smaller acreages. Development to higher densities would cause worsening water problems. Water tables drop faster in developed areas even if wells are removed from the aquifer as the increased coverage of the land by hard surfaces prevents rainwater from soaking back into the ground to recharge the water table. Water quality also worsens due to the many contaminants (oil and heavy metals) that are released from the greater number of vehicles on the road and due to the large quantities of fertilizer and pesticides (much larger than the amount used by farmers per acre) used by homeowners.
b) There continue to be discussions about development around Trinity Western University. This sort of development would remove land from the ALR, would cause increased flooding in the Salmon River floodplain and would cause the same sort of water issues mentioned for the Upland area.
5) Ocean survival of salomnids
Survival (thought to be due to climate change, over harvesting and other factors) continues to be extremely low. The very low run of 2006 (only 800 adults returned) appears to have been below the threshold to “fill up the habitat” in the watershed as smolt numbers in 2008 were very low at less than 16,000. This does not bode well for the fall 2009 adult coho returns and for runs every three years into the near future.
6) Lack of commitment and performance by DFO and other government agencies.
DFO continues to neglect protection of habitat and field operations. Allowing dredging of the Fraser River at Spring Bar (despite evidence that this will make no significant impact on flooding) and allowing destruction of the Serpentine in Surrey several years ago has unfortunately given farmers in the Fort Langley floodplain ammunition in their argument that the Fort Langley floodplain should be dredged and drained.
In addition we continue to have problems with pursuit of water and habitat issues. DFO no longer has the personnel to pursue water quality issues and getting the federal and provincial environmental people to pursue these issues is problematic. Although the DFO field personnel are conscientious and try to attend habitat complaints there are not nearly enough field personnel and they do not get the support that they need from the upper management. The ongoing policy of pursuing only the “bigger” problems and the lack of resolve to pursue even these bigger problems with court actions continues to lead to cynicism in the general population. This has the effect of increasing the number of violations as the chance of being pursued by DFO is seen as being small.
We still do not have a firm long term commitment that the Salmon River will receive funding for the fish fence to allow it to continue to be the index river it has been for over 20 years (with the exception of 2006-7 when funding was taken away and then restored).
Conclusion
The Salmon River Watershed continues to be an important coho and salmonid river with considerable healthy habitat but the many pressures facing it are starting to cause significant declines in coho stocks and habitat health. It is not too late to reverse these trends but we need to:
1) Protect the Fort Langley floodplain
2) Stabilize the water table in the Hopington aquifer and protect water quality (including avoiding gravel extraction which is a threat to our water).
3) Avoid higher density development of the watershed.
4) Realize a greater commitment from government agencies and the community to pursue solutions rather than engage in interminable discussions and planning.