Construction of Artificial Fish Habitat in the Goldstream River, 2004 prepared for: Habitat Conservation Trust Fund Victoria, B.C. Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection Protected Area Section (Goldstream) Nanaimo, B.C. Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection Fish and Wildlife Science and Allocation Section Nanaimo, B.C. by: M.P. McCulloch Fisheries Technician Greater Georgia Basin Steelhead Recovery Plan B.C. Conservation Foundation Nanaimo, B.C. March 2005 Construction of Artificial Fish Habitat in the Goldstream River, 2004 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Whole trees used in site construction were obtained from private forest lands on the east coast of Vancouver Island and were surplus to needs on the Englishman and Little Qualicum River restoration projects in the summer of 2004. Rock for ballasting structures was donated by Bear Mountain Developments. Keepee Johal1 provided exceptional machine operation in challenging circumstances. Craig Wightman2 acted as the project advisor. The field crew of Jeff Young and Kevin Pellet3 performed admirably. BC Parks staff including Garry Nielson4 and Hugh MacDonald5 facilitated Park Use Permits, identified work-plans for the lower restoration sites and helped to develop a low impact strategy for working within Goldstream Provincial Park. The Park Facility Operator, Rick Carswell6, provided additional guidance in working within Goldstream Park. Randy Dolighan7, Marlene Caskey8 and Marc Gaboury9 provided valuable input into conceptual designs for instream works. Tom Rutherford10, staff at the Saanich Native Heritage Center and staff at the Goldstream Park Nature House also provided valuable guidance and assistance in various aspects of this project. Initial funding was provided by the Habitat Conservation Trust Fund through the Greater Georgia Basin Steelhead Recovery Plan. Supplementary funding for additional works was secured from the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection – Protected Area Section (Goldstream). 1 Heavy Machine Operator, Johal Brothers Excavating, Lake Cowichan, BC. 2 Senior Fisheries Biologist, Region 1, Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection, Nanaimo, BC. 3 Fisheries Technicians, Greater Georgia Basin Steelhead Recovery Plan, Nanaimo, BC. 4 Area supervisor (Goldstream), Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection, Victoria, BC. 5 Senior Park Warden (Goldstream), Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection, Victoria, BC. 6 RLC Enterprize, Parks Facility Operator (Goldstream Park), Victoria, BC. 7 Anadromous Fisheries Biologist, Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection, Nanaimo, BC. 8 Habitat Protection Officer, Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection, Nanaimo, BC. 9 Habitat Restoration Specialist, LGL Ltd., Sydney, BC. 10 Community Advisor, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Duncan, BC. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ British Columbia Conservation Foundation Greater Georgia Basin Steelhead Recovery Plan Construction of Artificial Fish Habitat in the Goldstream River, 2004 iii CONTENTS List of Figures....................................................................................................................iii List of Tables ....................................................................................................................iii List of Appendices .............................................................................................................iii 1.0 Introduction................................................................................................................... 1 2.0 Study Area .................................................................................................................... 2 3.0 Methods......................................................................................................................... 3 3.1 Materials.................................................................................................................... 3 3.2 Construction .............................................................................................................. 4 4.0 Results........................................................................................................................... 6 4.1 Site Construction....................................................................................................... 6 5.0 Recommendations and Conclusions ............................................................................. 8 6.0 References..................................................................................................................... 9 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Goldstream River Watershed on Southeast Vancouver Island. ...................................... 2 Figure 2. Goldstream River LWD Installations and Habitat Restoration Completed by BCCF in 2004......................................................................................................................................... 7 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Habitat restoration work completed by British Columbia Conservation Foundation on the Goldstream River in 2004.................................................................................................. 6 LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix A. Project Documentation Appendix B. Photo Documentation Appendix C. Financial Report Appendix D. Newspaper Media Coverage Appendix E. Goldstream River Interpretive Sign ________________________________________________________________________________________________ British Columbia Conservation Foundation Greater Georgia Basin Steelhead Recovery Plan Construction of Artificial Fish Habitat in the Goldstream River, 2004 1 1.0 INTRODUCTION The Goldstream River is one of the most productive fish producing streams in the Capitol Regional District on southeast Vancouver Island (Kanaka 1973). The watershed supports chum, coho and chinook salmon populations as well as resident rainbow, steelhead and sea-run cutthroat trout. Additionally, the watershed acts as an important water source for the Capitol Regional District. Past restoration work in the Goldstream watershed includes a series of off channel ponds created by the Goldstream River Salmonid Enhancement Society in the summer of 2004, a Provincially sponsored watershed restoration project completed in the summer of 1999 and several incidental Large Woody Debris (LWD) and spawning gravel projects completed by local stream stewards. Several hundred thousand people visit Goldstream Park annually and a significant portion visit specifically to see spawning chum salmon in October-December. This large component of eco- tourists specifically interested in fisheries resources provides an excellent opportunity to showcase watershed restoration projects and educate the public with an interpretive sign. The development of lateral Large Woody Debris (LWD) structures in conjunction with an interpretive sign in a highly visible location provided an excellent opportunity to: • Increase available cover for adult and juvenile salmonids and re-establish a more natural channel profile and habitat condition; • Showcase current watershed restoration activities on this high priority watershed; • Educate the public on steelhead trout issues and Habitat Conservation Trust Fund (HCTF) sponsored watershed restoration projects currently underway to recover steelhead populations in high priority east coast Vancouver Island watersheds, and; • Work collaboratively with BC Parks to implement prescriptions developed in 1999 that protect parks infrastructure while developing or maintaining fish habitat complexity. BC Parks contributed additional funds specifically to address a debris accumulation under the upstream aluminum footbridge over a side channel located 316 m downstream of the Mt. Finlayson Road bridge crossing, identified as SC1. This accumulation threatens channel integrity as it diverts the majority of baseflow into the side channel, creating excessive streambank scour while significantly dewatering the historic mainstem and a large side channel complex. A grade control structure and deflector log was to be installed to reduce the likelihood of the accumulation reforming in the near future. Recent salmon returns are estimated to be 2,000-3000 coho, 15,000-40,000 chum and less than 100 chinook (FOC, nuSDS database and Peter McCulley, Goldstream Hatchery, personal communication.). Steelhead stock status is identified as an “extreme conservation concern”, and the trend is “indecline” (Lill 2002). Recent adult and juvenile enumeration suggest only a remnant steelhead stock currently exists. Cutthroat trout populations are not comprehensively enumerated. Funding for implementation of LWD and interpretive sign project was acquired through the HCTF through the Greater Georgia Basin Steelhead Recovery Plan. Funding for additional works to maintain channel integrity and habitat complexity was funded directly by BC Parks. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ British Columbia Conservation Foundation Greater Georgia Basin Steelhead Recovery Plan Construction of Artificial Fish Habitat in the Goldstream River, 2004 2 2.0 STUDY AREA The Goldstream River flows east, draining 56.2 km2 flowing into the head of Saanich Inlet, 16 kilometers northwest of Victoria on Southern Vancouver Island (Figure 1). The headwaters of the Goldstream contain a series of headwater lakes and reservoirs on a mid elevation (450–550 m) plateau on the west side of Saanich Inlet. This series of lakes forms an