Crossing 57695 - Chuchinka-Wichcika FSR - Trib to Wichcika Creek

Site Location

Crossing 57695 is located on an unnamed tributary to Wichcika Creek near the 15.5km mark of the Chuchinka-Wichcika FSR. The culvert is located 1.1km from the confluence with Wichcika Creek (Table 1). At the time of the field surveys, there appeared to be no active log hauling on the FSR however their was a mining exploration camp on the road roughly near the 5km mark and some pickup truck traffic was encountered.


Background Information

At the crossing location, the stream is 2nd order with a watershed area upstream of the road of approximately 2.8km2. The elevation of the watershed ranges from a maximum of 1500m to 1100m at the culvert. No other crossings are modeled upstream.


Provincial records indicate that Bull Trout were captured downstream of the crossing approximately 400m as well as near the mouth of the stream by DWB in 2016 (MoE 2019).


Hagen et al. (2015) have identified the upper end of the Wichcika Creek mainstem as containing critical spawning and juvenile rearing habitat for large body Bull Trout with an estimated minimum spawner abundance of less than 50 fish.


Following office review, PSCIS stream crossing 57695 was ranked as a high priority for follow up with habitat confirmation due to the potential for rehabilitation of the crossing to provide access to modeled instream (1.5km) habitat with a relatively large channel size (2.8m) and potentially high value habitat as indicated by contractor habitat value assignment. Additionally, Gollner, Cain, and Russell (2013) prioritized the crossing for follow up (Table 2). The habitat confirmation was completed on September 01, 2019. A map of the watershed including areas surveyed is provided in Attachment 1 – Map 093J115.


Stream Characteristics at Crossing

At the time of the survey, the un-embedded and non-backwatered 1.5m diameter crossing was considered a barrier to upstream fish passage with a pipe length of 20m, a culvert slope of 8% and an outlet drop of 0.95m (Table 3, Figure 1).


Stream Characteristics Downstream

The stream was surveyed downstream from the culvert for 520m to below the point where Bull Trout were observed by DWB in 2016. Overall, total cover amount was rated as moderate with deep pools dominant. Cover was also present as small woody debris, large woody debris, boulders, undercut banks, and overhanging vegetation and extensive areas of gravels suitable for spawning present (Figures 2 - 3). The average channel width was 4.2m, the average wetted width was 3.3m and the average gradient was 8.7% (Table 4). The stable, mature channel contained drops up to 0.6m high resulting from large woody debris. Three minnowtraps were set overnight within the 50m of channel directly below the culvert. No fish were captured. Habitat value upstream of the crossing was rated as medium.


Stream Characteristics Upstream

The stream was surveyed upstream from the culvert for 920m. The average channel width was 4.4m, the average wetted width was 3.4m and the average gradient was 11.2% (Table 4). Riparian vegetation was comprised of a mature coniferous forest and total cover amount was rated as moderate. The dominant cover form was undercut banks with small woody debris, large woody debris, boulders, and overhanging vegetation also available (Figures 4 - 5). Some gravels suitable for spawning were present. No obstacles to fish passage were observed in the area surveyed with the exception of debris jams ranging from 50 - 100 cm in height (Figure 6). Three minnowtraps were set overnight within the 50m of channel directly above the culvert. No fish were captured. Habitat value upstream of the crossing was rated as medium.


Conclusion

There is 1.5km of mainstem habitat modeled as less than 22% gradient upstream of crossing 57695. Habitat in the areas surveyed upstream of the crossing was rated as moderate value for salmonids with Bull Trout presence confirmed downstream of the FSR. Review of Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations & Rural Development (FLNR) licensee operating areas maps indicate that the forest licensee in the area is Sinclar Group. The road tenure holder is FLNR. As the crossing location appears to be important migration corridor with habitat upstream with moderate rearing potential for Bull Trout the crossing was ranked as a moderate priority for rehabilitation.


Table 1: Overview of stream crossing.
Site Stream Road Tenure UTM (10N) Fish Species Habitat Gain (km) Priority
57695 Trib to Wichcika Creek Chuchinka-Wichcika FSR FLNRORD 5506 14 0 563257 6038803
1.5 Moderate


Table 2: Field map, Fish Habitat Model outputs, historic PSCIS details and prioritization for follow up with fish habitat confirmation rank/comments.
Map 50k Instream (km) Lake (ha) Wetland (ha) Channel Width (m) Fish Upstream Habitat Value Rank Comments
093J115 1.5
0.2 2.8
High High Prioritized in Gollner et al. (2013). Larger stream with BT observed downstream.


Table 3: Summary of culvert fish passage assessment.
Site Diameter (m) Length (m) Embedded Backwatered Fill Depth (m) Outlet Drop (m) Outlet Pool Depth (m) Stream Width Ratio Barrier Result
57695 1.5 20 no no 1.5 1 0.6 2.8 Barrier


Table 4: Summary of habitat details
Site Location Length Surveyed (m) Channel Width (m) Wetted Width (m) Pool depth (m) Gradient (%) Habitat Value
57695 Downstream 520 4.2 3.3 0.4 8.7 Medium
57695 Upstream 920 4.4 3.4 0.4 11.2 Medium


Outlet of PSCIS crossing 57695 (UTM: 10N 563257 6038803).

Figure 1: Outlet of PSCIS crossing 57695 (UTM: 10N 563257 6038803).


Habitat downstream of PSCIS crossing 57695 (UTM: 10N 563237 6038641).

Figure 2: Habitat downstream of PSCIS crossing 57695 (UTM: 10N 563237 6038641).


Habitat downstream of PSCIS crossing 57695 (UTM: 10N 563199 6038452).

Figure 3: Habitat downstream of PSCIS crossing 57695 (UTM: 10N 563199 6038452).


View of habitat upstream of PSCIS crossing 57695 (UTM: 10N 563234 6038882).

Figure 4: View of habitat upstream of PSCIS crossing 57695 (UTM: 10N 563234 6038882).


View of habitat upstream of PSCIS crossing 57695 (UTM: 10N 563127 6039030).

Figure 5: View of habitat upstream of PSCIS crossing 57695 (UTM: 10N 563127 6039030).


View of habitat upstream of PSCIS crossing 57695 (UTM: 10N 563042 6039289).

Figure 6: View of habitat upstream of PSCIS crossing 57695 (UTM: 10N 563042 6039289).



References

Gollner, M C, Robijn Cain, and Krista Russell. 2013. “FISH PASSAGE CULVERT INVESTIGATIONS - Prince George Timber Sales Business Area - CONTRACT # PD13TGB001.” MarLim Ecological Consulting Ltd.

Hagen, John, Susanne Williamson, Mike Stamford, and Ray Pillipow. 2015. “Critical Habitats for Bull Trout and Arctic Grayling Within the Parsnip River and Pack River Watersheds.”

MoE. 2019. “Known Bc Fish Observations and Bc Fish Distributions.” Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy - Knowledge Management. https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/known-bc-fish-observations-and-bc-fish-distributions.