04/11/2020 GWC #2 – Trout Lake Water History – Exploring Water in Our Lives

Exploring Water in Our Lives

Adventure, Engineering, and Community

GWC #2 – Trout Lake Water History

Posted on February 21, 2017February 26, 2017 by sliceolemon The Great Waters Challenge #2 is all about the history of water in our communities. What were these creeks, ponds, storm sewers, and inlets like before our communities planted themselves firmly among and often over top of them? What critters called these places home and how has that changed?

So it turns out I inadvertently touched on this in my first blog post for GWC#1, touring around and giving some background history on several water features of .

For this post, I’m going to dive deeper into one particular water body that is near and dear to my heart: Trout Lake in , located here for non-Vancouverites:

John Hendry Park (known to everyone in Vancouver as Trout Lake Park) is popular for dog-walking, the beach, jogging, softball, and a lovely summer Farmers Market. The history of Trout Lake really started to interest me last year, when I learned that Vancouver pumps drinking water into the lake each summer.

https://sliceolemon.wordpress.com/2017/02/21/gwc-2-water-history/ 1/8 04/11/2020 GWC #2 – Trout Lake Water History – Exploring Water in Our Lives This blog post will explore the story of Trout Lake and the China Creek watershed. Like a lot of urban waterways, its the story of development first and the environment second. But this mentality is starting to slowly shift, and I’m excited about the plans for the future.

Pre-1860s – China Creek and Trout Lake Bog

Take yourself back over 150 years and Trout Lake was a peat bog surrounded by hemlock forest. You could follow China Creek through this wilderness from the Renfrew Highlands to Trout Lake and all the way to False Creek.

As you wade or tromp through and around the bog, you might see deer, a black bear, perhaps a cougar, almost certainly evidence of beavers, if not the buck- toothed little creatures themselves. You might hear wolves howl and see Coho and Chum Salmon and Rainbow Trout.

It’s reported (http://vancouver.ca/files/cov/john-hendry-park-master-plan-terms-of-reference.PDF)that the First Nations people used the Trout Lake area for hunting, as it was too wet for permanent settlement.

1860 -1940: Lowering the Lake Level and Creation of John Hendry Park

At this time, is new, and the Gold Rush is in full swing, bringing people into BC and Vancouver at increasing rates. For Vancouver itself, Forestry is the big business and the creation of (http://www.globalbirdphotos.com/ve/030_041_Vancouver's_Hastings_Mill_Jacqui_Underwood.pdf) on False Creek sparked the growth and industrialization of Vancouver as well as the first of many alterations to China Creek and Trout Lake.

In the 1870s, China Creek was deepened to create a flume from Trout Lake to supply water and raft materials to the Hastings Mill on False Creek, which likely caused the lake level to drop permanently. https://sliceolemon.wordpress.com/2017/02/21/gwc-2-water-history/ 2/8 04/11/2020 GWC #2 – Trout Lake Water History – Exploring Water in Our Lives In the 1920s, parents complained of the high banks of the lake, so the lake level was further reduced by connecting the lake outflow to the storm sewer system on Victoria St and 13th ave, the banks were cut back, and the beach was created at the South End of the Lake In 1926 after the mill closes, Aldeyn Irene Hamber (nee Hendry) donates part of the land to the to be named after her father, John Hendry.

Trout Lake circa 1908

1940s-1980s Burying China Creek

Due to complaints in the 1940s of sewage pollution, China Creek was confined and buried in an underground culvert (potentially even earlier). In 1968, Trout Lake is closed for the first time due to pollution and high bacteria counts. This led to the fresh- water fountain being turned on to increase the inflow into the lake as a way to address the poor water quality. As the city continued to grow in the 1970s and 1980s, the rest of the forest and bog was cleared and built over and the remaining streams that fed the lake were covered and turned into storm or combined storm/sanitary sewers.

The natural waterways of China Creek were now fully hidden beneath the city and converted to storm and combined sewers. Trout Lake had been turned from a natural large marshy bog that was one piece of the larger China Creek watershed, to a disconnected pond relying on rainfall and runoff from John Hendry park only, with fresh drinking https://sliceolemon.wordpress.com/2017/02/21/gwc-2-water-history/ 3/8 04/11/2020 GWC #2 – Trout Lake Water History – Exploring Water in Our Lives water being pumped into it every summer to improve water quality for swimming.

Now, a Beloved Urban Park:

Trout Lake park is dotted with baseball diamonds and surrounded by a variety of walking paths, green lawns, and a community centre. The lake itself is about 4 hectares in size and 1-2 m deep, and drinking water is still pumped into it each summer. There is a small beach for swimming on the south side and a dog beach on the north side. The lake is fringed by native shrubs and trees (with invasive plants) on the west and east shores and the most frequent wildlife you’ll see are birds, raccoons, skunks, and squirrels. Other than rainfall on the park itself, no stormwater from other areas enters Trout Lake.

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Sources: City Hall Watch (https://cityhallwatch.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/trout-lake-beach-closed-for- swimming/), WeLoveEastVan (http://www.weloveeastvan.com/blog/east-van-neighbourhood-trout- lake/), Georgia Strait (http://www.straight.com/blogra/675161/craft-liquor-and-fresh-fish-coming- vancouver-farmers-markets), and Miss604 (http://www.miss604.com/2012/06/trout-lake-day-2012.html) Trout Lake is loved by the people of East Vancouver, who from my perspective are accustomed to the park in its present form, and probably don’t think of how the lake fits into a watershed now or in the past. The only really obvious hint that something isn’t quite right is the beach being frequently closed for swimming in the summer due to high bacteria levels, which are mostly attributed to aquatic life.

Ideas for the Future:

A few years ago, the City of Vancouver completed a Draft Master Plan (http://vancouver.ca/parks-recreation- culture/improving-john-hendry-park.aspx) for John Hendry Park and Trout Lake, with some exciting natural improvements for habitat:

A wildflower/tall grass meadow

Bog restoration along the lake

Improve and expand riparian areas along the lake Restored Camosun Bog in Vancouver (http://www.pacificparklands.com/project/camosu n-bog/)

In addition to habitat work, the plan outlined naturalized stormwater improvements:

Developing rain gardens or other source controls in parking lots Draining impervious paths to pervious surfaces Treating stormwater from new impervious surfaces using source controls such as rain gardens or infiltration swales Draining fields to the lake where possible https://sliceolemon.wordpress.com/2017/02/21/gwc-2-water-history/ 5/8 04/11/2020 GWC #2 – Trout Lake Water History – Exploring Water in Our Lives Direct Stormwater from the surrounding neighborhood into John Hendry Park through a series of constructed treatment wetlands

I’m particularly excited about the last item: directing stormwater from the surrounding neighborhood into treatment wetlands and Trout Lake. To me, this is one step towards creating an ecological system that more closely resembles the original waterway, while also helping to address urban pollution. Sure, this won’t be a natural waterway, it will be managed for pollution and need maintenance, and maybe it’s just one little 200 m stretch, but it’s a small step towards revitalizing urban waterways.

“Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.” – Arundhati Roy

Sources

https://sliceolemon.wordpress.com/2017/02/21/gwc-2-water-history/ 6/8 04/11/2020 GWC #2 – Trout Lake Water History – Exploring Water in Our Lives http://vancouver.ca/files/cov/john-hendry-park-master-plan-terms-of-reference.PDF (http://vancouver.ca/files/cov/john-hendry-park-master-plan-terms-of-reference.PDF) http://vancouver.ca/files/cov/presentation-board-tout-lake-park-history-2013-oct.pdf (http://vancouver.ca/files/cov/presentation-board-tout-lake-park-history-2013-oct.pdf) http://vancouver.ca/files/cov/open-house-boards-john-hendry-park-2014-apr.pdf (http://vancouver.ca/files/cov/open-house-boards-john-hendry-park-2014-apr.pdf) http://vancouver.ca/files/cov/presentation-board-tout-lake-park-ecology-2013-oct.pdf (http://vancouver.ca/files/cov/presentation-board-tout-lake-park-ecology-2013-oct.pdf) http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/search?query=trout+lake (http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/search? query=trout+lake) https://sustain.ubc.ca/sites/sustain.ubc.ca/files/Clean%20Water%20-%20Christine%20Cooper%20- %20Making%20Trout%20Lake%20Swimmable.pdf (https://sustain.ubc.ca/sites/sustain.ubc.ca/files/Clean%20Water%20-%20Christine%20Cooper%20- %20Making%20Trout%20Lake%20Swimmable.pdf) http://vancouver.ca/files/cov/john-hendry-park-master-plan-terms-of-reference.PDF (http://vancouver.ca/files/cov/john-hendry-park-master-plan-terms-of-reference.PDF) http://www.globalbirdphotos.com/ve/030_041_Vancouver’s_Hastings_Mill_Jacqui_Underwood.pdf (http://www.globalbirdphotos.com/ve/030_041_Vancouver's_Hastings_Mill_Jacqui_Underwood.pdf)

Tagged BC, history, Vancouver, water

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