Compliance and effectiveness monitoring of stream barrier remediations on salmonid bearing streams in British Columbia

Over 400,000 culvert stream crossings are present in British Columbia, with many acting as barriers to fish passage. The frequency of culverts on the landscape has made them the leading cause of linear stream habitat fragmentation for salmonids and a restoration priority. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), the British Columbia Fish Passage Technical Working Group (FPTWG) and the Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF) have undertaken culvert remediation projects to rectify this issue and improve fish passage. Two styles of culvert remediation are employed: retrofits, placing weirs downstream and adding baffles into the structure, or full replacement with open bottom structures. However, as with many habitat restorations, post-construction compliance and effectiveness monitoring are rarely performed. We are undertaking a large-scale post-treatment assessment of previously remediated culverts in B.C. involving physical crossing and habitat assessments, and fish sampling, to assess construction compliance and biological effectiveness at remediated culverts. Our results will inform how well different remediation types have performed, their functional longevity, and the factors associated with remediation failure. These results will be used with geospatial analyses to determine the amount of upstream habitat, assessed as linear stream length, that has been made available to specific species, in BC through culvert remediations.

Faculty Supervisor:

Scott Hinch

Student:

Partner:

Canadian Wildlife Federation

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Agriculture; Other services (except public administration); Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program: