Watershed Assessment
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DAWSON CREEK LIMITED WATERSHED ASSESSMENT Prepared for: DAWSON CREEK WATERSHED SOCIETY Box 14 Farmington, BC V0C 1N0 & CITY OF DAWSON CREEK PO Box 150, Dawson Creek, BC V1G 4G4 Prepared by: HEMMERA ENVIROCHEM INC. 250-1380 Burrard Street Vancouver, BC V6Z 2H3 File: 631-001.02 January 2006 Dawson Creek Watershed Society / City of Dawson Creek Hemmera Envirochem Inc. Dawson Creek Limited Watershed Assessment File: 631-001.02 Final Report - i - January 2006 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report documents the findings of the Dawson Creek Limited Watershed Assessment conducted by Hemmera Envirochem Inc, (“Hemmera”) on behalf of the Dawson Creek Watershed Society. The Dawson Creek Watershed is located near the City of Dawson Creek, in northeastern BC. The watershed supports a number of land uses and economic activities including: urban development, agriculture, oil and gas exploration, and recreation and tourism activities. Human development activities in the watershed have altered Dawson Creek. The Dawson Creek drainage basin covers an area of 274 km2, has a mainstem length of 43.5 km and includes several tributaries (Ski Hill Creek, South Dawson Creek, Frondizi Creek, plus many un- named tributaries). The watershed drains from west to east, through the City of Dawson Creek and empties into the Pouce Coupe River. The purpose of the watershed assessment is to develop an understanding of the baseline watershed conditions. It is intended that this information will be used to assist the Dawson Creek Watershed Society in developing strategies for restoring and managing the watershed. The assessment methodology involved research of existing baseline information; compilation of baseline information onto GIS maps; discussion of baseline conditions and identification of preliminary issues and recommendations. Based on the limited watershed assessment, the following key issues were identified: • Barrier to fish passage at Snake Pit Road (Rolla Road) Crossing; • Water quality concerns (i.e., coliform bacteria, water temperature and dissolved oxygen), and potential leachate issues near the “old” Dawson Creek Landfill; • Low water flow potentially linked to water licenses within the watershed; and, • Requirement for further studies to confirm fish presence/absence upstream of the Rolla Road crossing. The findings of the Limited Watershed Assessment (LWA) may be used in a number of ways to address land and water use issues that may potentially challenge ecosystem functions within the Dawson Creek Watershed Society / City of Dawson Creek Hemmera Envirochem Inc. Dawson Creek Limited Watershed Assessment File: 631-001.02 Final Report - ii - January 2006 Dawson Creek Watershed. The following are some of the ways that the findings from the LWA could be used. • Develop “Issue Specific” Action Plans – The results of the LWA are not confirmed or supported by field studies. As such, an appropriate use of the findings of the LWA would be to undertake field level studies to confirm one or more of the key issues identified above and collect information to support a better problem definition of such issues. This information would support the development of issue specific action plans. • Develop a Watershed Management Plan – The findings of the report could be used as a foundation document that supports a process to develop a watershed management plan (WMP). Such a plan, would likely be developed in collaboration with key stakeholders with an interest in the health of the watershed and would include long term goals and objectives for protection and enhancement of the watershed. The WMP would support, guide and prioritize issue specific action plans discussed above. The advantage of focusing on issue specific action plans is that it allows for immediate action on a fairly well defined set of issues and potentially provides for some early successes for the group. Having some early success is important in building support for longer term watershed planning and management activities. In addition, the collaboration required between stakeholders in advancing issue specific action plans can help to build working relationships necessary for developing a WMP and the structure necessary for its long term implementation. The disadvantage of this approach, is that the issue specific action plans would not be guided by a long term vision for the watershed. At the same time, it is possible to initiate the development of a WMP after the development of issue specific action plans and there are advantage to doing so as outlined above. Regardless of what approach is decided upon, it is essential that the decision-making process involve all stakeholders with an interest in the watershed. This will ensure that decisions made, regarding next steps are supported by stakeholders with an interest in the long-term health of the watershed. Dawson Creek Watershed Society / City of Dawson Creek Hemmera Envirochem Inc. Dawson Creek Limited Watershed Assessment File: 631-001.02 Final Report - iii - January 2006 As such, the recommended next steps are to organize stakeholder consultation meetings to decide how the findings of the LWA are best applied in the short term, establish an appropriate scope of work for 2006 and discuss potential funding sources to support the 2006 workplan. Dawson Creek Watershed Society / City of Dawson Creek Hemmera Envirochem Inc. Dawson Creek Limited Watershed Assessment File: 631-001.02 Final Report - iv - January 2006 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 PURPOSE .................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 LIMITED WATERSHED ASSESSMENT PROCEDURE .................................................... 2 1.2.1 Information Collection................................................................................ 2 1.2.2 Mapping ...................................................................................................... 2 1.2.3 Reporting..................................................................................................... 4 2.0 INFORMATION SOURCES........................................................................................... 5 3.0 EXISTING ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS......................................................... 7 3.1 PHYSICAL SETTING .................................................................................................. 7 3.1.1 Dawson Creek Main Watershed ................................................................. 8 3.1.2 Dawson Creek South Watershed ................................................................ 9 3.1.3 Ski Hill Creek Watershed ......................................................................... 10 3.2 CHANNEL CHARACTERISTICS................................................................................. 10 3.2.1 Channel Morphology ................................................................................ 10 3.2.2 Sediment Source Survey........................................................................... 11 3.3 CLIMATE................................................................................................................ 11 3.4 HYDROLOGY.......................................................................................................... 12 3.5 LAND USE AND RESOURCE USE............................................................................. 13 3.5.1 Dawson Creek Main Watershed ............................................................... 13 3.5.2 Dawson Creek South Watershed .............................................................. 14 3.5.3 Ski Hill Creek Watershed ......................................................................... 15 3.6 BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES ....................................................................................... 16 3.6.1 Fish Presence ............................................................................................ 16 3.6.2 Vegetation................................................................................................. 18 3.6.3 Water Quality............................................................................................ 18 3.6.3.1 1999 Dawson Creek Water Quality Program............................... 18 3.6.3.2 Dawson Creek Landfill Groundwater Monitoring ....................... 21 3.6.3.3 City of Dawson Creek Water Quality Monitoring Program......... 22 4.0 PRELIMINARY ISSUES AND RECOMMENDATIONS ......................................... 23 Dawson Creek Watershed Society / City of Dawson Creek Hemmera Envirochem Inc. Dawson Creek Limited Watershed Assessment File: 631-001.02 Final Report - v - January 2006 5.0 NEXT STEPS .................................................................................................................. 28 5.1 DEVELOPING ISSUE SPECIFIC ACTION PLANS .......................................................... 28 5.2 DEVELOPING A WATERSHED MANAGEMENT PLAN................................................ 29 5.2.1 Definition .................................................................................................. 29 5.2.2 Content...................................................................................................... 30 5.2.3 Process ...................................................................................................... 30 6.0 CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................................