by Heather Washburn
Noons Creek suffers from all the typical woes besetting urban streams. It is subject to the effects of urban runoff, possible spills of toxic materials, reduction of its riparian buffer, draining of its surrounding wetlands and even (as we saw last summer) clear-cutting and paving over of a tributary.
The City of Port Moody has been helpful in working towards mitigation of these effects. Recently, they installed a sump and valve on the drain from the Rec Centre parking lot into Noons Creek, so that during heavy rains parking lot water will not run into the creek but will instead be pumped out of the sump. And of course PMES continues to work towards public education regarding protections of streams in general and Noons Creek in particular.
However one of our most serious problems is not one of the quality of water, but its QUANTITY. The gradual (and recently more swift) paving over of areas of the Noons Creek watershed results in loss of the nourishing groundwater which, slowly released into the creek, keeps it flowing over the summer. In the last few summers we have had periods of great concern about our water level. Lower water flows result in higher water temperatures and lower levels of dissolved oxygen, both very limiting for fish.
During low flow periods in the summer, Eric uses a pump in the Coho pond to aerate the water and move it around. But awareness has been growing that we need another source of water for Noons Creek. Last fall the long discussed well was dug with the help of Wesbild Holdings Ltd. The resulting water was a disappointment to all - too little and of poor quality.
Recent developments might provide a solution to this ongoing problem. An agreement has been reached between Wesbild and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to look at rebuilding the Cypress Lake dam at the headwaters of Noons Creek. This eighty-five year old dam originally helped provide water to the young City of Port Moody, but was abandoned in the 1950’s. If the dam can be rebuilt, and if the various levels of government can agree that this is desirable, then PMES would be able to “draw down” stored water from the lake during those crucial weeks in the summer. We look forward to the results of preliminary studies on this project. If successful, it would mean quality, genuine Noons Creek water available when we need it most.
_____________________________________________________________
by Bill Porier
Over the past two months, a wa tershed assessment of Noons Creek has been undertaken by Aquatech Services. The primary focus of the study had been to assess the current status of the Noons Creek watershed and to attempt to resolve the issue of low summer flows. These low flow periods have created ongoing problems at the Noons Creek Hatchery, located near the mouth of Noons Creek. The study is being conducted by collecting and reviewing all existing data, making observations in the field, and determining the feasibility of various methods of increasing summer flows. A similar study has also been conducted concurrently by Northwest Hydraulics Ltd. with the emphasis of this study being placed on the hydrological aspects of the Noons Creek drainage.
As the Upper Noons Creek watershed has been logged extensively, both in the late 1800’s and again in the early 1970’s, it is thought that poor logging practices and road construction may have altered the hydrological regime of the watershed, resulting in increasingly “flashy” flows or causing headwater drainages to be diverted into other watersheds. Further investigation seems to indicate that the forest has largely recovered, with most of the logged areas showing significant re-growth of forest cover. Although some road crossings of headwater drainages and portions of Noons Creek are poorly constructed and somewhat unstable, they do not appear to significantly restrict flows in Noons Creek. The main headwater source to Noons Creek is Cypress Lake. A dam was constructed at the outlet of Cypress Lake in 1911 to store water with this water being used by the city up to roughly 1953. The dam is currently in poor condition offering relatively no control over flows in Noons Creek.
Based on the findings of Aquatech Services and those outlined in the Northwest Hydraulics report, some current options for increasing flows in Noons Creek (at the hatchery) include the following: a) repair or replace the dam on Cypress Lake in order to have controlled releases of water through the summer months; b) make modifications to existing culverts and roads to improve drainage in the headwater area and reduce erosion of sediments into the Noons Creek drainage; or c) find another source of water such as dechlorinated city water or groundwater from an aquifer located under the nearby Bosa development.
Although the study is ongoing, most available data seems to indicate that the most feasible and effective means to increase Noons Creek flows is to replace the dam on Cypress Lake so that the high spring runoff can be stored and released during the summer months via a new low level outlet. Some resistance to this option has been shown by the Ministry of Environment, Lands, and Parks (MELP) due to the potential impacts to the shoreline to Cypress Lake and the associated vegetation and wildlife habitat. Conversely, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has shown preliminary support for this option to improve fish habitat in the lower portions of Noons Creek. Due to the considerable costs and risks associated with the dam option, further studies and discussions between the stakeholders will be necessary prior to any decisions being made to proceed. Aquatech Services is a Port Coquitlam company which has been in operation since 1993, providing streambed habitat inventories and consultation on other issues surrounding freshwater fisheries. For further information, contact Bill Porier at 942-3735.
_________________________________________________________________
by Heather Washburn
It is with great pride and gratitude that we note the honours be stowed upon two very active members of the Port Moody Ecologi cal Society.
On June 3rd, 1997, the B.C. Minister of the Environment honoured Elaine Golds with the 1997 Minister’s Environmental Award for her years of hard work on behalf of plants and animals and the environment which supports them.
Elaine, who hasn’t let her doctorate in Cell Biology get in the way of active field work, continues to give valuable direction to every level of government. Locally, her involvement with the City Environmental Protection Committee has provided excellent guidance in the city’s development of the Inlet trail system. She has addressed concerns with Neighbourhoods 3 & 4 and other development issues on our local mountain-sides, and lately has spearheaded a campaign to protect Miller Park Ravine as a small back-yard wilderness area rather than a Sky-Train route. Regionally, Elaine continues to speak out to the public as well as public officials on issues such as Burrard Thermal and the protection of our watersheds. She sat on the Lower Mainland Protected Areas Regional Advisory Committee as well as on the CORE committee whose work resulted in the provincial government’s dedicating over 200 new parks in B.C. last year. Elaine’s presence on the Board of Directors of PMES has helped keep our ties with the Burke Mountain Naturalists tight and strong, and her steady hand with a grant application and ongoing work with our school programs amongst other projects are all very much appreciated.
Part of the festivities at the Salmon Enhancement conference held in Victoria on the weekend of May 17th was a presenta tion to another very special PMES member. Ron Simpson was honoured as Volunteer of the Year in recognition of his years of outstanding community work with the Noons Creek Hatchery as well as a number of other hatchery groups in the Tri-City area.
There are few aspects of the Noons Creek Hatchery that do not have Ron’s mark on them, from the building itself, which he designed and helped build, to the outdoor classrooms and newly built boardwalk. Ron probably didn’t see too much of the rest of the SEP conference; he spent most of the weekend teaching a steady stream of fascinated novices how to build multi-layered models of watersheds using foam-core and topo maps. Congratulations, Ron.
_________________________________________________________________
Golden Spike Raffle Winners Pete Ryan Carving - Reg Schmunk of Port Moody Bob Sheridan Painting - Ralph Weibe of Surrey Congratulations and thank you, everybody!
__________________________________________________________________
by Jutta Haunerland
Again, an extremely busy spring season lies behind us. Unemployed fishermen who undergo retraining through the Mifflin plan worked under the guidance of Ron Simpson in unpredictable weather conditions to complete the construction of two much needed outdoors classrooms. Once these were finished the fishermen constructed, with the help of some of our volunteers, a new boardwalk which takes you from the parking lot to our salmon enhancement facility.
As school programs were conducted at the same time, we had to work out special arrangements here and there in order to avoid interfering with the “noisemakers” on site. It sure wasn’t always easy to operate smoothly and keep the children’s full attention. Thanks a lot to everyone on site who endured the construction phase. In particular I wish to thank our hatchery staff and our naturalists for doing such a wonderful job despite all the detraction. Christine, Heidi, Janet and Kirsten: thank you all for doing a great job. The children enjoyed the program very much.
Also taking place at the same time were three streamkeeper courses for fishermen, streamkeepers from the TriCity area, high school students, naturalists and fresh SFU grads. Some students chose to attend only certain workshops that they were interested in. Participants indicated after the workshops that they really liked them - only, next time they would like to finish with a BBQ! Our streamkeeper workshops cover the same modules from the DFO streamkeepers handbook as the Capilano College streamkeepers course, except that we don’t request homework. But we can’t give our participants college credits either. Instead they receive a certificate of achievement. The certificates were produced by Heather, and she sure needs to be commended on her terrific job.
On the Victoria day weekend, there was DFO’s biannual Salmon Enhancement Project Conference (SEP) in Victoria. Several of us attended, and we organized a workshop on water analysis. The weather cooperated, and we all enjoyed the activities very much. It was an extremely busy spring for our hatchery staff, many of whom participated in the above activities in addition to our annual fingerling festival and numerous hatchery tours PLUS the on-going work of raising the salmon. Certainly we owe Nancy and Dave and all their co-workers a big thank-you.
As hatchery and teaching activities are slowing down with the end of school, there is a little bit of time to get ready for our summer programs for children. These are offered in conjunction with the City’s Parks & Rec Department under the titles “mudmuckers”, “estuary explorers”, “egg to exit” and “backyard Wildlife”. There will be a lot of hands-on activities, like children constructing their own birdhouses, and I am sure that the kids will have a great time.
The same I wish to all of you - have a great summer. -Jutta
________________________________________________________________
by Nancy Aichberger
As summer approaches (we hope!), we are concluding a very success ful year of salmon raising. We were very lucky this past season in that our only problems were the low water temperatures during the incubation period. This led to a loss of some fish during hatching.
All of our Chum eggs were taken from the Indian River, at the north end of Indian Arm, on Nov. 1st and 5th, 1996, by our hatchery workers, DFO and members of the Burrard inlet Marine Enhancement Society. A total of 89,000 eggs (true green count) were brought back to our hatchery for incubation. After shocking in late January, we had 76,247 eyed Chum eggs. The first aelevin was seen on February 17 at 392 ATU’s. Losses were minimal until a two week period starting on March 10, 1997 when substantial numbers of hatching aelevins died, presumably due to the very low water temperatures. We were left with about 68,000 aelevins by late March; of these, 65,000 lived to the fry stage. Release of 30,000 of our Chum fry began on May 16, 1997 with the help of school groups and continued through to the Fingerling Festival.
The remaining fry were released into Schoolhouse Creek South on May 29th. The area of release was on the Reichold Chemical land. We all (about 12 of us) had to sign in and were required to wear safety hats and safety glasses. Our arrival on site was met with tremendous excitement by the plant workers. They were notified of our arrival by intercom and quite a few came down to see our fish. Reichold Chemicals is interested in becoming our partner in stewardship of Schoolhouse Creek. We promised them a tour of our hatchery and assured them we’d give them more than 20 minutes notice next year before a release!
Our Coho eggs came from Noons Creek broodstock, captured from the flume draining from the Coho rearing pond. No one had to go into the creek to capture the spawners this year, they came to us instead! We started with a grand total of 33,000 eggs. When the eggs were eyed, we sent 10,855 to Mossom Creek Hatchery, leaving us with 20,060 eyed eggs to raise.
The first aelevin was spotted on February 18, 1997. We began ponding the fry into the capilano trough) on April 17 and continued until May 12; by May 14 we had 18,467 fry weighing on an average about half a gram each. By June 25th the average weight was 2.1 gms, which meant they were big enough to transfer to the outdoor rearing pond.
Before the fry could be transferred outside it is first necessary to drain the rearing pond and capture by seining anything left behind after the previous generation of Coho go out to sea. On June 25, 1997, a lovely cool, rainy summer day, a group of brave volunteers plus Mark and Katy from DFO drained and seined the pond. The catch was as follows: 1 Salamander; 73 Sculpins; 19 Cutthroat (year-old) and 30 Coho, two of which were smolts and the rest little guys.
The Hatchery crew are hoping to begin digging another Chum spawning pool this summer. This would be Phase 2 (Phase 1 was completed in the summer of 1996) of a proposed 4 phase spawning channel system consisting of two Chum ponds (lower) and two Coho ponds (upper).
____________________________________________________________________
by Christine Chapman
Imagine 30 energetic, shouting chil dren, harried teachers in pursuit, parents with younger siblings in strollers, all excited to be visiting Noons Creek Hatchery to learn about salmon!
As one of the Naturalists who leads school programs at Noons Creek, I can safely say that not all is as it seems on a typical program day!
At around 9:00 am the Naturalists and helpful hatchery volunteers rush around setting up scientific equipment, tarps and tables for the Stream Science program. “Where are the scoopers? Who has the total dissolved solids meter? Why are the oxygen meters not working today?” we ask each other in our state of panic. At 9:25 the group of children arrives (early) and are already half way down the trail to the hatchery when we greet them. Introductions are given, the group is divided and we are off to learn about stream health and water quality amid sounds of construction from the new boardwalk being installed. Midway through the program we stop for a snack break only to find that the kids have left their snacks in the car and the parents and teachers have disappeared into the park for a walk. The children decide to be satisfied with a few salmonberries and we move into the second half of the program. During quality measurements, one child accidentally drops a thermometer into the fish pond where it immediately sinks out of sight. During the velocity test we watch a pink rubber ball, seeking freedom, float downstream never to be seen again. At 12:00 pm, we conclude the program and the delinquent teachers return to take their children back to school.
There are many challenges in a typical program day, but the difficulties are greatly outweighed by the rewards of watching the enlightened faces of children as they gain appreciation and knowledge so they can take action to help conserve and preserve salmon habitats in Greater Vancouver.
_______________________________________________________________________
by Elaine Golds
People who enjoy a stroll in the Shoreline Park will have undoubtedly noticed the improvements being made at the Old Mill Site. In an attempt to bring more natural habitat back to the Shoreline Park, the Parks and Recreation Commission recommended that a wetland be created where once the concrete foundations of a building had lain. Late this spring, the concrete was ripped out. Since the area has natural seepage and is underlain by heavy clay, it didn’t take long for the hole to fill up with water. A small public viewing area has been created and, I believe, appropriate wetland vegetation will be planted on the shoreline of the mudhole/pond in the fall. But will this be sufficient to create a wetland??
Water quality problems in the pond became evident immediately. Probably because of the very fine clays which remain suspended, the water in the pond remains cloudy and uninviting. Turbid water can not only clog the gills of aquatic organisms, it can also prevent sunlight from reaching even shallow depths to promote plant growth. I collected a water sample from the pond and let it sit undisturbed for several weeks. The turbidity never cleared in all that time. Providing a gravel bed in the pond may help to keep the particles from being stirred up. Perhaps, introducing some flow from a nearby storm drain would help to flush the fine particles as well as to maintain water levels throughout the dry months.
Despite the cloudy water, life is beginning to appear in the pond. When I first transplanted some cattails and scirpus in June, I noticed water striders on the surface. By early July, I noticed they had been joined by water boatman as well as some additional and unidentified insect activity beneath the surface. On one recent trip when I was bringing in more native wetland plants, a kingfisher and a dragonfly flew overhead for a quick check on the habitat. My pails of wetland water, transported from another, well-functioning wetland, contained assorted duckweed, algae and microscopic life and also, inadvertently, one tiny northwestern salamander larva who is now, hopefully, doing well in his new home. These salamanders, even at the juvenile stage, are carnivorous so this little guy will need a sufficient number of small invertebrate larvae to eat in order to survive. I wonder if he will find them in the pond this year?
Gary Williams, the marsh ecologist, who guided us on a wetland tour for our June meeting, reminded us that we shouldn’t be thinking only of salmon when we restore habitat. As he pointed out, it is important to create habitat for amphibians and other wetland species which often can’t successfully share habitat with salmon since the salmon predate on them.
I also learned a little about the propagation of cottonwood trees on one of my trips. A branch which had been floating near the edge of the water had sprouted a green leaf. On closer examination, I noticed that this “dead” branch had many tiny rootlets where the branch was submerged beneath the water. Now it was sending up a green leaf, the beginnings of a new tree. Nature was doing its own shoreline planting! This observation gave me new insights as to how cottonwood trees along streambanks, noted for their tendency to drop “dead” branches, might use this technique as a method propagating new trees downstream.
I also noticed some “wildflowers” growing along the path leading to the pond. By and large, these are not our native wildflowers, of course, but are likely have germinated from the standard “wildflower seed” mix which seems to be favoured by professional landscapers. Perhaps, in time, some of our native lupine will grace the site and attract butterflies. Perhaps, we could lend nature a helping hand by spreading some lupine seed in the area? I hope that our little wetland will remain a haven for our truly wild creatures and not fall victim to the introduced ones such as the big bullfrogs who predate and (usually destroy) most other small wetland species.
Local residents report that, in the spring, Pacific tree frogs can be heard chorusing in the ditch next to the new pond. So, if the habitat is suitable, these frogs will likely move into the pond. Will we be lucky enough to observe many tadpoles next spring? Tadpoles eat prodigious amounts of algae - whether or not the turbid waters will support much algae growth is questionable. Perhaps the mere act of getting some vegetation established in the water will help to settle the clay particles. Overall, it’s fascinating to watch this man-made mudhole transform into a pond - with considerable help from “Mother Nature”, of course!!
__________________________________________________________________________
by Heather Washburn
Four years have passed since the official opening of the Noons Creek Hatchery, making this our fifth celebration of salmon fry release at the hatchery’s present site. This year our little hatchery grew into a small village, with the addition of two handsome outdoor classrooms.
The quiet “village” atmosphere became more like that of a carnival May 25th when, with the assistance of hundreds of local children and their family members, we let the Chum salmon go. They were preceded by the Coho, which were released earlier in May.)
In a drift of cottonwood fluff throughout a warm and overcast day, people enjoyed the chance to visit and wander over the site among various activities. At the cookie decorating table, success was measured not only in aesthetic achievement but also in inches of sticky height of the resulting cookie. At the “Wheel of Death”, participants assumed the identity of a single salmon egg, and spun the wheel to determine their chances of survival to adulthood (I was unable to achieve even the basic necessity of hatching!). And, as usual, the ice-cream bucket brigade did a vigorous trade in empty vs. full buckets, as children returned again and again to take their few fingerlings down to Noons Creek for release.
Heartfelt thanks go out to Diane Dilworth, who helped Ann and Joanne with sales of memberships, refreshments and draw tickets, as well as tickets for our July raffle. Tyler and Brittany Dilworth helped me with the facepainting. Cookie decorating was overseen by Jeremy Newell and Erin and Alec Smecher, and later on by Tyler Dilworth and Alison Johnson. Christie Clark and Graeme Bartlett, assisted by Oliver Mittendorff and Greg Golds managed the barbeque and the hot dogs. Eric Olsen was helped by Simon Gagnon, Scott Manning and Emelia and Craig Coleman in keeping things orderly with the Chum and the ice cream buckets. Teresa Mittendorff supervised the “Count the Coho” contest and tulip bulb sales were overseen by Kevin Bond and Shirley Schultz. Scott Manning helped Nancy with the “bug” demo, and our DFO consultant Mark Johnson and Bev Bowler presided over the “Wheel of Death”. Of course Rick, Dave, Jim and Jutta did their customary excellent job of greeting and schmoozing with the public; that large land-locked salmon you may have noticed was just Jutta doing her thing.
It is important to note that many of the above are “youth” (under twenty, shall we say), and we are especially grateful for their enthusiasm and help with all our activities.
My apologies to those whose names I’ve mis-spelled (or worse, omitted altogether). You know who you are.
Winners are as follows:
COUNT THE COHO Won by: Rebecca Hyndes (95) Gregory Stecker (90) (Each won a chickadee-house built by Burke Mountain Naturalists)
RAFFLE Fish Tablecloth Won by: Dave Bennie Salmon books (2) Won by: Rick Marusyk and Wayne Williams (These were all donated by Robert and Tjarda Barratt of PointFour Systems Inc.) Tuk Caldwell Print Won by: Brittany Dilworth (The print was donated by John deJong of Mountainview Gallery)
________________________________________________________________________
by Jim Mattson
Water quality testing in our lab has now 2 new addi tions to the testing procedure. We are now testing for total and fecal coliform bacteria in the salmon streams that empty into Burrard Inlet. We are using the membrane filter method as published in the 11th Edition of “Standard Methods”. Also, as cited by the National Training Center of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency:
1. Results are obtained in approximately 24 hours, compared with 48 - 96 hours for the standard fermentation tube method. 2. Much larger, and hence more representative, samples of water can be analyzed routinely with membrane filters. 3. Numerical results from membrane filters have much greater precision (reproducibility) than is expected with the fermentation tube method. 4. The equipment and supplies required are not bulky. A great many samples can be examined with minimum requirements for laboratory space, equipment and supplies.
Newer NH4+ (ammonium ion) / NH3 (ammonia molecule) test kits have been purchased for a more accurate low concentration measurement of ammonia pollution.
The water quality lab will also be used by Capilano College students to do routine water quality sampling of the creeks flowing through Colony Farm with the idea of seeing about restoring them as salmon rearing streams. More about this will be published in the next newsletter.
May and June have seen two new water quality testers come on line in our water quality monitoring program. Wade McGilvary and Natalie Martens have been inducted into the PMES team to perform routine testing of Slaughter House Creek and Suter Brook Creek. We still need four more water quality testers to cover the remaining salmon-bearing creeks on a routine basis. It is important to keep a close watch on our creeks during the low water periods during the summer.
_____________________________________________________________________
by Jim Mattson
In case you haven’t yet seen it, Port Moody Ecological Society is now on the Web! We have had the web site for over a month now and have three newsletters stored on it. Last week it underwent a major improvement and some additions were added to it in the form of hot links and a button menu system, which makes it a little easier to move around in. Finally, people who access the website who are not members and would like to join can now do so with a mail-in form.
In the future will be adding some new sections: an archive section for storage of previous copies of The Creek Crier, a “Recent Events” section where items of current interest to club members will be displayed and a separate “Water Quality Page” in which current water quality results for the various salmon-bearing creeks will be displayed.
The URL for our web site is:
http://mypage.direct.ca/j/jmattson/index.html
As with other activities in our organization, we would welcome contributions and assistance with design and content of our web site. If you are interested you are welcome to contact its webmaster, Jim Mattson (e-mail: jmattson@direct.ca).
____________________________________________________________________
by Rick Simpson
(A few days after we notice those emails stop coming, Rick, a rescue crew will set forth, chainsaw and pit-lamp in hand, to dig you out from underneath a collapsed mountain of periodicals, releases, proceeds, reports and BOOKS!)
Environmental Stewardship in the Municipal Act: A Synopsis of Local Governments’ Powers by Cheryl Webb, DFO/FRAP, March 1996, 35 pages, Free. Remedies for obstacles to action.
BC Water Quality Status Report by MELP, April 1996, 80 pages, Free. Needs ground truthing for some Tri-Cities (Coquitlam, Port Moody, Port Coquitlam, Anmore, Belcarra) & vicinity watersheds. eg: p. 43 - Or Creek.
Urban Stream Stewardship: From By-laws to Partnerships - An Assessment of Mechanisms for the Protection of Aquatic and Riparian Resources in the Lower Mainland by Julia Gardner, DFO/EC/FRAP, November 1996, 134 pages, Free. Remedies for obstacles to action.
Net Loss: The Salmon Net Cage Industry In BC by David Ellis, The David Suzuki Foundation, October 1996, 195 pages, $25. State of the universe in BC aquaculture.
Sea Silver:Inside BC’s Salmon Farming Industry by Betty Keller & Rosella Leslie, Horsdal & Schubart, June 1996, 138 pages, $7.95. Another state of the universe in BC aquaculture.
Legal Options for Protecting Urban Streams-14 June,1996 Workshop Proceedings edited by Linda Nowlan, West Coast Environmental Law Research Foundation, January 1997, 110 pages, Free. Available:WCELA, tel:(604) 684-7378. Remedies for obstacles to action. (Reading list to be continued next edition...)
____________________________________________________________________ THE END