Is the irrigation of the 麻豆社国产Valley Golf Course a contributor to this problem? Quite likely, but there are still gaps in our knowledge of how groundwater moves under the spawning channels and the golf course, and the golf course is not the only stressor on the Mamquam River flows.
River flows were very high in July and much of August (due to snowmelt), contrary to the statement DFO submitted to The Chief. There was plenty of water in the river and none in the spawning channels.
With this letter I hope to further impress upon people how serious this problem is; I want you to care, and I hope that you can support a collaborative approach between various levels of government, golf course staff, and environmental groups like the and the .
The Mamquam spawning channels, while originally intended for chum, have for many years also been critical spawning and rearing habitat for coho salmon (and other species, as the article points out). Coho and chum have very different life cycles.
Chum spawn in the fall and their young fry leave the river and head out to sea shortly after they hatch in the spring; water levels in the channels are high during these few months. Young coho, on the other hand, spend one to two years in freshwater before migrating seaward.
Thus, coho fry are in the channels during summer and that is why they are so much at risk. Coho, like all salmon, have lost so much habitat within the 麻豆社国产watershed. If they have come to use the Mamquam channels, we should be pleased and make the channels safe for them year-round.
The Streamkeepers and others (including me) have spent so many hours over the years salvaging young coho and moving them to the deeper refuge ponds. However, salvage is a band-aid solution.
Fish get stressed and can die just from the salvaging, and it’s impossible to capture all of the fish. Young salmon, when water levels are very low or channels are drying, burrow into the gravels as a last resort to survive, hoping to find oxygen in the subsurface water, and just waiting for rain.
This is not a one-off event; it will most likely happen with greater frequency and severity as our summers get hotter and drier.
My husband and I went to the Indian River last week to see what is usually a glorious pink salmon run. What we found was approximately 50,000 (likely more) fish in the river, unable to get more than about two kilometres upstream, with nowhere to spawn, as the water levels were critically low. The fish were crowded, and many thousands of them were dead without having spawned, as oxygen levels were likely too low.
It was shocking.
And I think it’s a sign of things to come. So please look at the Mamquam spawning channel drought as part of a much larger problem. Our salmon stocks are going to suffer more in the coming years, and I hope you all will continue to care about this issue.
Chessy Knight
President, 麻豆社国产River Watershed Society
