Burnaby streamkeepers are keeping an eye on local waterways, following unusually hot and dry weather that could threaten local fish populations.
With so much sun and so little rain, water and oxygen levels in Burnaby’s main salmon bearing creeks are dropping.
“It doesn’t look good,” said Nick Kvenich, president of the Eagle Creek Streamkeepers. “We’re worried that the low levels are going to result in fish deaths.”
The salmon rearing pond the streamkeepers built is suffering from lack of fresh, cool oxygenated water flowing from the creek down various side channels. The streamkeepers have been monitoring the oxygen levels, which have dropped to dangerously low levels, likely to low to support fish.
The City of Burnaby loaned the streamkeepers a water truck to water plants around the pond, many of which were planted by volunteers to provide shade and keep the waters cool. The streamkeepers also brought in a pump to aerate and transfer water from the main creek to the pond, which helped bring the oxygen up to a level that would marginally support fish.
The pond is habitat for coho fry, which spend one to two years in the local creek before heading to the open ocean.
Meanwhile, in Stoney Creek, Burnaby’s most prolific salmon-bearing stream, waters levels are also dropping.
“There are places in the upper reaches, where there are a few pools that have become isolated,” said Alan James of the Stoney Creek Environment Committee. “There are fish in those pools that are getting stressed because the temperature is higher than it would be if the creek were actually flowing through them, and they are more susceptible to predators, likes herons.”
The salmon in Stoney Creek are wild coho that hatched last spring, James said.
“If it continues and it dries up even further, then, yes, it’s going to be a serious thing,” James said. “Everybody’s concerned about what the longterm ramifications of this are. If this becomes the new normal with climate change, the fish are going to have to adapt somehow.”
James said there’s been talk about moving the fish, but that would be a huge operation. The volunteer group is considering planting more streamside trees, but it would be years before they’re big enough to provide adequate shade.
