Rock slide in Fraser River, B.C., may hinder salmon passage

[wildmanyeah]

Roger, so using hells gate as a similar barrier to current big bar would seem fair?

No vastly different, big bars barrier to passage around 2400 (pre improvements), Hells gates seems to be 9000

i just posted it up to show there is a point where these fish wont get passed hells gate let alone big bar and as dave pointed out if they get beat to death in hells gate won't have much left for big bar.

 

[Dave]

Its all about energy reserves and once past Hell's Gate some stocks have very little left. Another hurdle just up the river, at high or warm water events, will prove devastating to sockeye stocks like Early Stuart.

 

[SerengetiGuide]

Yeah I more meant could use hells gate as a measuring stick for post improvements big bar.

 

[wildmanyeah]

Its all about energy reserves and once past Hell's Gate some stocks have very little left. Another hurdle just up the river, at high or warm water events, will prove devastating to sockeye stocks like Early Stuart.

I do wonder if some of the stocks never recovered after the hells gate slide because they never returned it to pre slide state or if its because they just kept harvesting them at the reduced level never allowing them to recover.

 

[Dave]

Some stocks, like the Upper Adams and Horsefly River, have increased since Hells Gate, if past historic spawning surveys are to be believed.

 

[Whitebuck]

Great info Dave.
Thank god for copy and paste.
SG, definetly stocks moving through that area for the past couple weeks. I am hoping that anything moving through the slide area now will be able to benefit from some of the work that has been done before the water gets too high.
The work and the fish way done at hells gate will hopefully be done at Big Bar ASAP.
Hopefully FN can push DFO to get some hatchery enhancement upstream of the slide, cause with the way it was looking even before the slide these stocks were doomed.

 

[searun]

Not so sure the upper Fraser FN's are in favour of hatcheries. They might starting thinking about them when they realize with current state of climate change impacts on freshwater habitat makes recovery of this population of stream-type chinook unlikely. Sockeye are also very susceptible. We had a climate change expert provide some forecasting info for Somas sockeye and unless we can get temps down in the river that run is doomed also. Stream-type chinook are in big trouble and I'm not sure there is much we can do about it in this political climate.

 

[wildmanyeah]

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https://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/pacif...lide-eboulement/bulletins/2020-04-24-eng.html


Big Bar landslide response information bulletin
Ongoing onsite operations

Preparations continued this week for the installation of the pneumatic fish pump system at Big Bar. A contract for the supply of this equipment was awarded to Whooshh Innovations Ltd. The first system is expected to be operational in late May; it will then be replaced by a higher capacity model in late June. The pneumatic pump system will move fish past the slide when water volumes are too high for fish to use the “nature-like” fishway. The current focus remains on constructing the concrete fish ladder, which is being built using 500 interlocking blocks and will guide fish to a holding pool. Site work is also underway to prepare for the installation of the Whooshh tubes that will transport the fish past the slide.

The Province of BC’s River Forecast Centre is predicting that water flows will soon be the highest recorded for the month of April in this portion of the Fraser River. By April 28, flows could reach 5,000 cubic metres per second (cms). Crews are taking every safety precaution as they continue to work on the concrete fish ladder in wet conditions. However, this progress may slow if water levels rise further.

In addition, Kiewit is improving the overland access road for use by trucks to transport fish for upstream release or for delivery to hatcheries.

Archeology work continues onsite with the assessment of an access road to the French Bar Creek release site and the assessment of a new holding tank area to be used for chinook enhancement operations.

Concrete fish ladder construction is well underway, with over 500 blocks to be used in the final construction

Construction continues on the creation of a concrete block fish ladder to guide fish into the pneumatic fish pump system.

 

[SpringVelocity]

Huge snow pack this year, so the water levels are highly likely to be bad unless we have an extremely cold summer.

I agree that water flow is big concern. Can't seem to catch a break....

 

[SerengetiGuide]

Water levels seems to have plateaued around 4400 m3/s last couple days

 

[SerengetiGuide]

Water coming down quickly as temperatures have cooled off. Looked at Clinton weather for next week and looked good...not too hot 12-14 degrees and not much rain. Good conditions for a slower, more equal melt and run off (unless that's wrong?)

 

[Whitebuck]

Look at the weather for Vanderhoof, Mcrbride and Prince George. This will give a better scope of what the weather in the headwaters of the Fraser and it’s main tributaries rather than Clinton.
Couple things here...
Longer delayed freshet will help water temps in August and early September.
Colder weather now....more risk of higher water come June when the bulk of these stocks will be migrating through this area.

I do like what I am seeing at the slide site right now with the rock work on the one side. It seems to have really broken up the velocity and am confident fish are moving past it right now.

With freshet continuing we are looking at at least another 20feet of water over the next few months.

I would really like to see some of the updated sonar counts as their is fish moving through that area daily now in numbers.

 

[SerengetiGuide]

Look at the weather for Vanderhoof, Mcrbride and Prince George. This will give a better scope of what the weather in the headwaters of the Fraser and it’s main tributaries rather than Clinton.
Couple things here...
Longer delayed freshet will help water temps in August and early September.
Colder weather now....more risk of higher water come June when the bulk of these stocks will be migrating through this area.

I do like what I am seeing at the slide site right now with the rock work on the one side. It seems to have really broken up the velocity and am confident fish are moving past it right now.

With freshet continuing we are looking at at least another 20feet of water over the next few months.

I would really like to see some of the updated sonar counts as their is fish moving through that area daily now in numbers.

Have a link to webcam of it or pictures of how it looks at this present time?

 

[Dave]

X2 on those sonar numbers Whitebuck. I'm very surprised the numbers are not being made public.

 

[littlechucky]

3 Chinook caught in the Albion test fishery in the first ~week since they started.

Last year it was zero.

Probably hard to draw much in the way of any conclusion given the limited data set but good nonetheless.

 

[SerengetiGuide]

Glad they were wrong about 5000 by april 28. Realize it's at 4000 but 25% less is still 25% less.

 

[shuswap]

Sonar monitoring hasn’t started yet. Covid has had an impact. But should be underway in May.

Covid is the new reality at the moment and it has created some significant logistical issues for field work. It’s not just business as usual. Lots of considerations. Need to keep everyone safe.

 

[GLG]

Big Bar landslide response information bulletin
May 1, 2020

Ongoing onsite operations

Earlier this week, work onsite was impacted by the high freshet flows from the region’s rapidly melting snow packs. During this time, crews readjusted to make progress in other areas such as the installation of anchors that will suspend the tubes for the pneumatic fish pump.

Water levels have since dropped and construction has resumed on the concrete fish ladder, which will guide fish to the pneumatic fish pump system. Efforts are now focused on fully completing the base of the fish ladder while the river remains in check.

Big Bar ferry operations have been suspended since last week as a result of the high water. Work onsite continues to be supported by river boats and crews, who provide site transport and are responsible for swift water rescue.

Prime contractor Peter Kiewit Sons ULC continues to face weather challenges with high winds slowing renewed rock scaling and the spring thaw impacting road conditions.

What do high water levels mean for fish?
Fish should be able to migrate upriver naturally during moderate flows from approximately 1,700 to 3,200 cubic metres per second (cms). Work completed this winter is expected to significantly increase the time during which these levels exist. Higher volumes will be tempered, improving the ability of fish to pass through the slide area on their own.

The cooler spring temperatures delayed the onset of freshet but the Fraser River flow now exceeds 3,200 cms. These elevated volumes mean the “nature-like” fishway will not be viable until the return of more moderate conditions.

The pneumatic fish pump system is expected to be in use by the end of May, when fish usually arrive at the Big Bar landslide site. This system will transport migrating fish when water levels are too high for them to use the “nature-like” fishway.

Finally, fish migration and hydrological monitoring programs throughout the spring and summer will help provide accurate information about fish migration to support further planning.

Installation of anchors that will suspend the tubes for the pneumatic fish transport system.

Construction of the concrete fish ladder was hampered this week by rising water levels, as seen at the bottom of this photo.

http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/pacifi...lide-eboulement/bulletins/2020-05-01-eng.html

 

[Dave]

Any idea where they are measuring discharge? used to be at Hope but that may have changed.

 

[wildmanyeah]

Any idea where they are measuring discharge? used to be at Hope but that may have changed.

They have one near big bar