Historically low water flows in key BC watersheds poised to destroy critical salmon recovery efforts

Vancouver, September 4, 2003 - Today, the Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council (PFRCC) released a commissioned report investigating the troubling conflicts people and salmon have for water in British Columbia. The report concludes that unprecedented water demand for industrial, agricultural and domestic purposes in BC watersheds has led to historically low water flows and, as a result, intense stress on salmon and their ability to reproduce. In arriving at its conclusions the report examined two key BC watersheds (the Nicola River basin and the Englishman River watershed) and their associated water management issues in order to go beyond the theoretical to see what is really happening in BC.

This latest PFRCC commissioned report is entitled Conflicts Between People and Fish for Water: Two British Columbia Salmon and Steelhead Rearing Streams in Need of Flows. To obtain a copy of the report or the executive summary, go to: www.fish.bc.ca.

"We are at a crisis point", said PFRCC member Mark Angelo, world-renowned rivers specialist and report co-author. "Already we know our extreme thirst for fresh water has likely contributed to the decline of some southern-interior coho salmon stocks, to the point that they are now an endangered species".

"Many had hoped that the implementation of a new provincial Fish Protection Act, combined with changes to the provincial Water Act, would help governments better protect water flows for fish. But that hasn't happened. So, despite a lot of provincial and federal legislation, policy and regulation, historic problems with the over allocation and often inefficient us of water persist...as does the salmon's struggle to survive", Angelo added.

Dr. Marvin Rosenau, a provincial fisheries biologist and recipient of the Murray A. Newman Award for Excellence in Aquatic Conservation, is the other report author.

Water flow is critical for sustaining the salmon's lifecycle, the amount of water flowing in a stream during the spawning, incubation and early life stages of salmon and steelhead is essential to their health and survival. Low water flows impact on salmon and steelhead reproduction by reducing habitat capacity. As well, low water flows can stress or kill adult and young fish through increased summer water temperatures. Lowered water flows can also interrupt the passage of adult and juvenile fish to spawning and rearing areas.

The PFRCC commissioned report notes that new applications for water allocation are still being sought and, in some cases, actually granted in areas where extreme water extraction is already having an adverse impact on salmon and steelhead. This situation is currently compounded by the fact that efforts to increase water flows have stalled in much of the province. The reasons for this problem range from inadequate monitoring of existing extractions to an apparent complacency about degraded habitats.

As noted, the report focuses in on two British Columbia watersheds: 1) the Nicola River basin, located in the south-central part of the province within the Thompson River drainage; and 2) the Englishman River watershed, situated on the central east coast of Vancouver Island.

In the arid Nicola River basin, extensive withdrawals of water by the agricultural sector, some in excess of legally licensed amounts, have long been seen as having substantive effects in this important salmon and steelhead drainage. Some of the steps that could be taken to resolve flow-related problems for the Nicola River Basin include:

The establishment of a moratorium on water licensing for diversion or extraction.

A review and update of the Nicola Basin Strategic Plan, now 20 years old.

The development of a hydrological budgeting process, throughout the watershed, in order to allocate water to fish and agriculture in a fair, transparent and legal manner.

The launching of a license-compliance and beneficial-use audit of existing water licenses and water use in the basin.

The updating of the flow-release regime that is part of the Nicola Lake dam-operation plan to protect fish and meet appropriate water requirements.

The exploration of opportunities to buy back water licenses for fish and ecosystem values similar to initiatives undertaken in parts of the western United States.

The Englishman River is a coastal stream that flows in an eastward direction under the partial rain shadow of the mountains running down the spine of Vancouver Island. As a result, it normally experiences very low flows during the late-summer period. Some of the steps that could be taken to resolve flow-related problems for the Englishman River watershed include:

The use of stored water from the Arrowsmith Lake reservoir to keep flows in the mainstream of the Englishman River at a minimum of 20% of mean annual discharge when the water supply is sufficient, and to ensure that short term flows do not fall below 10%.

The initiation of a compliance-assessment of existing water licenses.

Facilitating a hydrological-budgeting exercise for the watershed.

Restricting the issuance of further water licenses unless supported by off-channel storage

The investigation of new or innovative options to provide more water in tributary streams, including the storage of more water for release during dry periods.

"The PFRCC welcomes this report and wholeheartedly supports the authors' recommendations. We request their immediate consideration by the relevant provincial and federal government ministries and agencies", said PFRCC chair, the Honourable John A. Fraser. "It is clear from this report that governments must take a much more precautionary approach with respect to the allocation of water, especially in sensitive watersheds like the Nicola Basin and Englishman, and in light of changing environmental and demographic conditions".

The report authors noted that global climate change may further exacerbate an already tenuous situation in the water-scarce parts of British Columbia by facilitating a drying trend in some locations or disrupting the hydrologic cycle to which salmon and aquatic ecosystems have historically become adapted. As a result, conflicts over water between fish and people will likely only increase as a result of the consequences of global warming and increases in human population in this province.

The Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council was established in 1998. Its role is to provide independent, strategic advice and relevant information to Canada's and British Columbia's fisheries ministers as well as to the Canadian public on the status and long-term sustainable use of wild salmon stocks and their freshwater and ocean habitats.

For more information, contact:

John Paul Fraser
Media Liaison Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council
604-775-5789
fraser@fish.bc.ca

Mark Angelo
Report Author
604-432-8270

Related Reports:

Conflicts between People and Fish for Water: Two British Columbia Salmon and Steelhead Rearing Streams in Need of Flows