Port Moody Ecological Society

Editor:  Donna Underhill;  e-mail:  [email protected], Published by:  Ministry of Forests & Watershed Restoration Program, Corporate Services; Ministries of Sustainable Resource Management & Water, Land and Air Protection, 22 pages.

Compliments of: Donna Underhill, editor "Streamline", 'we' are now in possession of a copy of:  FINAL ISSUE of: "Streamline", Watershed Restoration Technical Bulletin, Volume 6, Number 4, Spring 2002 (March 2002).

	RLS COMMENT:  Regrettably, after five years, this is the final issue of "Streamline", due to BC Liberal provincial government mandated cut-backs.  NOTE:  All "Streamline" issues are available free (at the moment) [as Of 20:28:44, Wednesday, March 6, 2002 ] on line at:  http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/frco/bookshop/streamline.html Thanks for your interest, Donna Donna Underhill Editor Streamline Watershed Restoration Technical Bulletin Phone: 604-224-6080 Fax: 604-224-6880 E-mail: [email protected] NOTE: "Streamline", Watershed Restoration Technical Bulletin, Volume 6, Number 4, Spring 2002 (March 2002) , Pages 20 & 21, are a "Streamline" Index, from Spring 1997 - spring 2002. Two feature articles are well worth the read - actually most of the "Streamline" bulletins for the past five years have been well worth the read.  Sorry to see this practical and useful publication disappear into the blizzard of possibly over-zealous spread-sheet driven management initiatives by the government of the day: "The Legacy of the Watershed Restoration Program", by Donna J. Underhill, pages 8 - 16. ~ Note the role and participation of stewardship groups, like PMES, throughout. ~ Lessons learned are grouped by Ms. Underhill under the following titles:  * An introduction and review of the WRP;  * Approach Restoration in a Whole Watershed Context;  * Strong Project Management;  * Information Management/Monitoring of Projects;  * Program Coordination and Financial Management;  * Technical Expertise;  * Spend Restoration Money Where There Is the Technical/Physical Ability to Fix the Problems;  * Hillslope Restoration;  * Channel Structuring Elements;  * Riparian Restoration;  * Bioengineering;  * Culvert replacement;  * Off-Channel Projects;  * Concluding Remarks.  "Evaluating the Performance of Channel and Fish Habitat Restoration Projects in British Columbia's Watershed Restoration Program", by Andrew Wilson, Pat Slaney and Heather Deal, pages 3 - 7.  ~ A total of 53 in-stream, 32 off-channel and 18 fish access rehabilitation projects over 2000 and 2001 evaluated. ~ Interesting to apply the lessons learned and documented by Slaney et al:  To the work by PMES volunteers under the direction of Eric Olsen and Co., for their main-stem in-stream work (re-contouring stream bed) by-hand in Noons Creek and their off-channel creation work by-hand on the Noons Creek site over the past five years;
	To the work done by Ross Davies and the E-Team for their off-channel habitat creation and fish access work (chain-link fence removal) in Suter Brook and their access rehabilitation work (culvert back-watering and coffer dam diversion) in Noons Creek;
	To the work done by Mike Landiak (DFO) and other partners in the main-stem of Noons Creek for the creation of an in-stream chum spawning channel. "

Restoring Streams in Cities:  A Guide for Planners, Policy Makers, and Citizens", by Ann. L. Riley, Island Press, 1998, 423 pages.   $52.95.

RLS COMMENT:  A fact packed reference text.  Includes Glossary. Ann Riley is the executive director of the Waterways Restoration Institute in Berkeley, CA and a hydrologist, actually a fluvial geomorphologist, by trade.  In spite of that, she is a good communicator in lay-persons language and the text is fairly easy to read. Well illustrated - Excellent graphics, include: sketches and before, during and after photos. Allow about 18 - 22 hours to read, absorb and savour. Each chapter has a wealth of notes and/or classic references - well researched. Chapter 9 " A Survey of Urban Watershed and Stream Restoration Methods" - includes a very useful section, for around here:  'The Steps to Designing a Restoration Project for a Degraded Urban Waterway'. Ross Davies and Nancy Aichberger have used several of these techniques in the South Schoolhouse Creek watershed, behind Port Moody Senior Secondary School, in Miller Park Ravine, with the Environment Club students, to stabilize a rapidly eroding stream bank, as part of the PMES Fisheries Reaching Youth (FRY) program. The restoration methods Ross and Nancy used, are also illustrated in other manuals and texts, such as 'Watershed Restoration', 'Streamlines' and 'The Streamkeepers Manual', among others, also found in the PMES lab library. Chapter 3 "The Environmental Professionals" - includes a very useful Table 3.2, page 95, titled 'The Two "Cultures of Multi-Objective Planning'. In view of the ongoing/routine field experiences that several PMES volunteers have in their work life, monitoring construction projects, for example, this table should be helpful. The Table lists engineers self-perceptions and environmental professionals perceptions of engineers...and also...environmental professionals self-perceptions and engineers perceptions of environmental professionals. For example:  Engineers see themselves as being 'managers', environmental professionals see the same attribute as 'narrow'.   Environmental professionals see themselves as 'progressive', engineers see this attribute as 'academic'. Sort of makes for many possible, 'Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus', project communications snafus on-site and elsewhere, where environmental professionals and engineers must somehow work together and peacefully co-exist for the duration of the task. "Restoring Streams in Cities:  A Guide for Planners, Policy Makers, and Citizens" is a good review of several other similarly focused reference texts in the PMES lab library.  This is a good addition to our lab library, given the huge surge in interest and on-the-ground watershed restoration work actually done and documented, since its publication date, four years ago. The basics covered in:  "Restoring Streams in Cities:  A Guide for Planners, Policy Makers, and Citizens", never seem to change.  All in all, well worth the read.

 

RLS COMMENTS:  Thorough.  Information dense. Graphics are the best quality I've seen in a technical report in a long time and are understandable. History of watershed from pre-1940' to 1996 - illuminating and saddening. 'We' have, hopefully, learned a great deal, since the 1940's and applied that new knowledge and information. An excellent case study for fish habitat and watershed restoration and enhancement students, practitioners and professionals and a few volunteer watershed stewardship community groups with technical and volunteer lay-people, doing fish habitat restoration & enhancement work, like PMES. In spite of the subject matter and the intended audiences, the 62 report pages are clear, easy to read and understand. The message is well presented. Allow about 45 minutes to 1 hour to read the text, but about 2 - 3 hours to read, study and comprehend all the appendices, figures, tables and plates. The graphics selected and their quality make the report.

"River Recovery:  Restoring Rivers and Streams Through Dam Decommissioning and Modification", by Rodney Stott and Laurie Smith, BC Outdoor Recreation Council, April 7, 2001, 76 pages. [funded by: BC Outdoor Recreation Council, Donner Canadian Foundation, BCIT].  Courtesy of:  BC Outdoor Recreation Council:  http://www.recovery.bcit.ca/ Complete report available as a free downloadable pdf file from:  http://www.recovery.bcit.ca/pdfs/final_report.pdf

I finally printed off a copy, so 'we' are now in possession of: "River Recovery: Restoring Rivers and Streams Through Dam Decommissioning and Modification", to be added to the Port Moody Ecological Society (PMES) lab library. (NOTE:  For some reason, my HP Laser Jet Series II black & white printer had trouble with the graphics on pages 30 & 31, but eventually my wife, Grace, figured out how to make it cooperate, by printing single pages at a time. The on-line version of the report has clear colour photos. These are a bit fuzzy in my black & white printed copy.)  RLS Re:  "River Recovery: Restoring Rivers and Streams Through Dam Decommissioning and Modification".  Worth the read.  Reading time about 2 hours. Thorough.  Well researched.  Easy to read.  First study of its kind in British Columbia, that I have seen.  Infinitely pragmatic and practical.  Unassailable logic, rationale and criteria. Noons Creek [coffer] Dam mentioned, page 30.  Cleveland Dam on Capilano River mentioned, page 36.  Coquitlam Dam mentioned, page 37.  To me, there seems to be a great deal of fish spawning and rearing habitat that has been denied to fish by dams that have now outlived their usefulness.  Races of salmon have gone extinct as a consequence of dams.  Removal and/or diversions around these no-longer-necessary dams would be useful in perhaps restoring some of these races and runs. A good local example of the impact of a dam on fish is the Coquitlam Dam and its impact on the Coquitlam River race of Sockeye salmon [Oncorhychus nerka].  Ecologically, Sockeye salmon need a lake system in order to complete their life cycle. The Coquitlam River race of Sockeye salmon, according to the oral history of First Nations and of early Europeans, was a substantial run. It went extinct shortly after the construction of the Coquitlam Dam at the outflow of Coquitlam Lake in about 1914. The Coquitlam Dam placed an impassible barrier in their migration path and thereby denied the Coquitlam River stock of Sockeye salmon access to their natal spawning and rearing habitat in Coquitlam Lake and the streams and rivers flowing into it.   According to Will Koop's research, at the time, a fish biologist did propose a fish ladder around the Coquitlam Dam to enable the Coquitlam race of Sockeye salmon, and perhaps other fish species too, continuing access to their birthing and rearing habitat, but was ignored. "River Recovery: Restoring Rivers and Streams Through Dam Decommissioning and Modification", deserves focus, attention and action on-the-ground, in-the-real-world form the governments of the day...  ....but...   ...with the existing and necessary BC Liberal "Core Review", corporate accounting and spread-sheet oriented mind-set, I doubt that "River Recovery:   Restoring Rivers and Streams Through Dam Decommissioning and Modification", or any other similarly constructive reports like it, will see the light of day for some time to come, due to present financial constraints from the inherited hangover of 'social engineering' and fiscal negligence. Perhaps, when economic times are more positive, "River Recovery:  Restoring Rivers and Streams Through Dam Decommissioning and Modification", can be dusted off, funding found and allocated, a timetable drawn up and its practical recommendations implemented in priority sequence. All in all, worth the read though.

Additional copies available from: David H. Johnson, WDFW, Habitat Program, 600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091, Email:<[email protected]>. RLS COMMENTS: In spite of the title, fairly easy to read. Relevant and useful Figures, Tables and Plates [photos] throughout, e.g.: Figure 5. "Some Food Web Beneficiaries of Pacific Salmon Nutrient in Freshwater, Estuary and Ocean Environments", Table 4. "Wildlife Species that have been Observed or Are Perceived to Aggregate at Salmon Congregations in Oregon and Washington", Plate #13 [photo]. "Garter Snake Eating a Salmon Smolt": Amazing. More than 576 references in Bibliography. Interesting and useful appendices, e.g.: Appendix VII.  "List of "Published and Unpublished Observations of Wildlife Predation and Scavenging on Salmon", pages 128 - 138.

Newsletters

Aboriginal Fisheries Journal (BC Aboriginal Fisheries Commission)

The Backroader (Four Wheel Drive Association of BC)

BC Naturalist ((the Federation of British Columbia Naturalists )

British Columbia Environmental Report (BC Environmental Network)

British Columbia Sportsman (BC Wildlife Federation)

Burke Mountain Naturalists Newsletter

Channels (Pacific Coast Terminals)

Eco-notes (the Polis Project, University of Victoria)

Fishbytes (the Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia)

Finding Solutions (the David Suzuki Foundation)

Fresh 2 Outlook

The Green Link (Institute of Urban Ecology)

Green News (the Global Rivers Education Network)

Natural Legacy (the Nature Trust of British Columbia)

The Outlet (Pleasantside Community Association)

The Park Warbler (GVRD Parks Partnership Initiative)

Parks & Wilderness  Quarterly (BC Chapter –Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society)

A Burke’s Eye View (Port Coquitlam & District Hunting & Fishing Club)

Sapperton Sportsman (Sapperton Fish and Game Club)

Streamtalk (Fisheries and Oceans Canada)

Vancouver Naturalist (Vancouver Natural History Society)

Volunteer Monitor (the National Newsletter of Volunteer Watershed Monitoring)

The Watershed News (the Como Watershed Group)

MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATIONS OF INTEREST

British Columbia Environmental Network (Annual Report, 2000-2001)

Canadian Species at Risk November 2001 (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada)

Recovery of Nationally Endangered Wildlife (2000-2001 Annual Report)