(Williams Lake) Plans to help migrating salmon swim up B.C.’s Chilcotin River to their spawning grounds are being developed after a massive landslide created an ice jam, but officials will wait and see if the water carves out a new pathway for the fish, provincial Water, Lands and Resource Management Minister Nathan Cullen said.
Cullen said Thursday the ice jam has created a new “choke point” on the river that could hamper the movement of sockeye salmon upstream, but noted the fish are extremely resilient and face many challenges on their journey to spawning grounds.
The government’s plan to help salmon, if needed, comes as First Nations in the central Interior say they are measuring the impacts of the landslide, which blocked the Chilcotin River for days before the breakup of the ice jam and a subsequent torrent of water sent trees and debris downstream.
At a news conference, Cullen said the narrows on the river appear to be eroding, but the situation does not appear to be at a point where fish can pass through.
“We have some time, but Mother Nature and salmon are incredibly resilient and this could resolve itself as the water gets cleaner and this blockage starts to ease.”
He added that government officials are working with First Nations in the region and others to “prepare, essentially, a Plan B.”
During a previous massive landslide in 2019 on the Fraser River at Big Bar, downstream from the Chilcotin River, officials had to catch and transport salmon beyond the site to allow them to continue their migration.
Chief Joe Alphonse, chairman of the Tsilhqot’in National Government Tribe, said damage assessments were still underway, but there were serious concerns about the impact of rough waters on spawning channels for migrating salmon.
With the precious sockeye salmon migration expected to reach the Chilcotin River in the coming days, it appears the landslide and rough waters have created challenging new obstacles for the fish on their way to spawning grounds, he said in an interview Thursday.
“It’s not completely blocked,” Alphonse said of the choke point. “It’s probably a four- or five-foot jump that they’ll have to get over. There’s a lot of pressure and the elevation is pretty steep.”
Indigenous sites devastated by water
Williams Lake First Nation said Thursday some 4,000-year-old heritage village sites were washed away when the Chilcotin River cut through the banks, while the Tsilhqot’in national government said critical salmon migration routes have been severely damaged and the threat of more landslides remains.
The landslide south of Williams Lake, which dammed the Chilcotin River last week, formed an ice jam that broke Monday and sent torrents of water, downed trees and debris downstream on the Fraser River, which flows through the Lower Mainland to the Strait of Georgia.
“We are grateful that the landslide did not cause catastrophic damage, but we are deeply saddened by the potential loss of irreplaceable Secwepemc history,” said a statement released after an aerial tour of the landslide and flood zone by Williams Lake Chief Willie Sellars.
“We remain hopeful that once the situation stabilizes, valuable Secwepemc artifacts, stories and knowledge will still be discovered,” he said.
Sellars said documentation and preservation of historic sites along the river will be addressed when the area can be safely reused, but the immediate priority is helping the salmon.
“We need to act quickly,” he said in an interview. “We will do everything we can to work together and make sure that we have fish for our future generations and that we have fish four years after these fish come back.”
Requested restrictions
Earlier this week, the Tsilhqot’in launched an Emergency Salmon Task Force to call on all levels of government, including U.S. states, to take action to preserve sockeye and chinook salmon stocks.
Mr. Alphonse called on the Department of Fisheries to introduce “automatic” restrictions on sport and commercial fishing to protect salmon in the Chilcotin River and Chilko Lake.
The Department of Fisheries said in a statement Tuesday that based on historical timing, the majority of adult chinook salmon returning to the Chilcotin River this season migrated past the slide site before last week’s landslide.
He also said most adult sockeye salmon should arrive at the confluence of the Chilcotin and Fraser rivers around the third week of August, and coho not until early fall.
The Fisheries Department was not immediately available for comment Thursday on the salmon runs.
Risks
Mr. Alphonse noted that it also appears that much of the Chilcotin River riparian zone at Farwell Canyon remains unstable and that heavy rains could trigger another landslide.
Downstream Fraser River communities in Lillooet, Lytton and Boston Bar reported higher water levels, similar to spring runoff, after the water was released, as well as the presence of logs and debris.
No flooding was reported.
Connie Chapman, executive director of B.C.’s water management branch, confirmed Thursday that flows in the Chilcotin River had returned to pre-landslide conditions, but the water still contained high levels of sediment.
She added that the volume of debris flowing into the Chilcotin and Fraser rivers was estimated to be about 60,000 cubic metres, of which about 30,000 cubic metres was trapped in a trapline in Agassiz.
Bank stability along the Chilcotin also remains a concern and tree debris is still being reported in the Chilcotin and Fraser Rivers.