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Nelson council considers fish habitat enhancement in Cottonwood Creek

Project envisions kokanee spawning near the mouth of the creek

A national conservation organization plans to restore fish habitat in a section of Cottonwood Creek in Nelson, making it suitable for kokanee spawning.

Paige Thurston of Living Lakes Canada and local engineer Alan Thomson of Mountain Lake Consultants presented the idea to Nelson City Council at its Sept. 24 meeting.

The project would see the restoration of a 65-metre section of the creek located upstream from the Lakeside Drive bridge and downstream from the CPKC (CP Rail) lands.

Since 2022, Thurston's group has conducted an aquatic habitat inventory of the creek, water quality monitoring, a community engagement process, and a fish habitat assessment. In the near future they plan to take measures to protect the creek from further development, and carry out a creek cleanup.

But the project before council was the habitat recovery initiative, aimed at creating an environment for kokanee to spawn.  Living Lakes asked for a letter of endorsement from the city to support its fundraising efforts.

Some of the group's work has been conducted with ReDi grants, which is money from the Columbia Basin Trust allocated through the city.

Thomson said the selected portion of the creek, adjacent to the City of Nelson public works offices, is a good candidate for a restoration project because it is cool and quiet with overhanging vegetation.

But it's almost too quiet, because kokanee "need more chaos," he said.

"The way you create chaos is you put in large things, you put things which are immovable in the creek, and it forces the water to move around – boulders, logs – and you create sections of creek which are different from other sections – some pools, some ripple sections, some quiet sections – and in those sections, kokanee will find places to spawn."

He hastened to add that he is not advocating the creation of a spawning channel, which would be a more highly managed and expensive operation.

The first step, he said, will be to scarify the stream bed – loosen up the gravel to allow it to move. Currently, Thomson said, the gravel is heavily compacted.

This will involve using a machine in the creek to stir it up.

"It doesn't look pretty, but you get it done quickly, and it's done," Thomson said, adding that this is commonly done in similar projects and in spawning channels.

Next steps would be placement of logs or large boulders in the channel, placement of spawning-sized gravels in locations where kokanee are projected to spawn, and planting of native riparian vegetation on existing and created gravel bars. Kokanee like spawning beneath overhanging vegetation, Thomson said.

The whole process could take between one and two years. The group has been discussing it with First Nations and other groups and agencies, and the project would eventually require approval of the provincial government.

Councillor Jesse Pineiro asked if the contaminated state of the land in the immediate vicinity would threaten fish. Much of the land in the vicinity is contaminated by a combination of industrial activities at a former rail yard and by a former landfill that still exists underground.

"We're not proposing to actually dig up things or to disturb the groundwater or the base soils," Thomson responded. "We're basically going to be placing things on top of the existing (ground)."

Thurston said they have taken water samples at the site and found no contaminants.

In response to a question from Councillor Kate Tait, Thomson said the proposed project is too far up Cottonwood Creek to be affected by fluctuating lake levels.

Councillor Jesse Woodward asked if the project would be carried away by rising waters in the event of a flood in the creek. Thomson replied that the stream bed is wide enough in that part of the creek to withstand a flood.

The presentation was made at a Committee of the Whole meeting, at which council hears delegations but does not make decisions. Council will address the question of providing a letter of endorsement at a future regular meeting.



Bill Metcalfe

About the Author: Bill Metcalfe

I have lived in Nelson since 1994 and worked as a reporter at the Nelson Star since 2015.
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