Bringing in the kokanee
by Timothy Schafer · CastanetA project to bring kokanee up Cottonwood Creek to spawn inside city limits is gaining some traction at the municipal government level.
City council has approved, through a letter of support, a proposed fish habitat restoration plan for the lower section of Cottonwood Creek, brought forth by Living Lakes Canada.
Cottonwood Creek has been talked about in a restoration sense for many years, said Alan Thomson of Mountain Station Consultants — the company Living Lakes contracted to deliver the project — and there is a groundswell of support to do something in the waters.
The current project is targeted for a 65-metre section of the creek, near the city works building, and would involve creating structure in an area of the creek where there currently is none, said Thomson.
“If the habitat is there, they will come,” he told council in a recent meeting, asking for a letter of support for the Cottonwood Creek Revival Project.
“There is not a lot of diversity in that flow right now, there’s not a lot of chaos. And aquatic life really likes chaos in a river to thrive. The real purpose here is to bring kokanee back into the creek to thrive. And kokanee need spawning areas to spawn.”
And the way to do that for kokanee is to create natural features in it. Restoration activities include streambed scarification, placement of boulders and logs, initial gravel placement and native vegetation planting, all structure for the fish to find places to spawn in.
The project would involve instream and bank works, in order to create hydraulic conditions that attract spawning kokanee and naturally maintain stream bed conditions and spawning-sized gravels.
The proposed fish habitat restoration focuses on the section downstream of the CP Rail land and upstream of the Lakeside Drive bridge, targeting kokanee salmon spawning.
“In those sections kokanee will find places to spawn. When you think of a natural creek, those are the kind of things that are in it,” said Thomson.
Living Lakes is not, however, proposing a spawning channel, he added, but there might have to be some “outplanting” of kokanee eggs in the stream, once it is completed, to give the fish a start.
A look at Living Lakes
Living Lakes Canada is an environmental organization focused on the protection and restoration of freshwater ecosystems across the country.
It collaborates with various stakeholders, including communities, Indigenous groups, governments, and environmental organizations, to promote sustainable water management and conservation practices.
The organization is part of a global network of Living Lakes, which works to protect and rehabilitate lakes, wetlands, and other freshwater bodies.
Living Lakes Canada engages in science-based research, community education, and on-the-ground projects to address issues such as water quality, habitat degradation, and the impacts of climate change on freshwater ecosystems.
By conducting activities like water monitoring, habitat restoration, and watershed management planning, the organization aims to safeguard the health of Canada’s freshwater resources for current and future generations. Its work also includes advocating for policy changes and raising public awareness about the importance of preserving freshwater ecosystems.
Further information
• Cottonwood Creek water and aquatic resources assessment