Crossing 125179 - Chuchinka-Missinka FSR Road - Trib to Missinka River

Site Location

Crossing 125179 is located on an unnamed tributary to the Missinka River near the 12km mark of the Chuchinka-Missinka FSR. The culvert is located approximately 660m east of surveyed crossing 125180 and joins this adjacent stream just before emptying into the Missinka River 1km downstream of the crossing (Table 1). At the time of the field surveys, there was very little traffic on the FSR and it appeared as though there was no active logging. The forest licensee in the area is Canfor Forest Products and the road tenure holder is the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations & Rural Development.


Background Information

The unnamed tributary to the Missinka River is a 2nd order stream with a watershed area upstream of the crossing of 4.3km2. The elevation of the watershed ranges from a maximum of 1700m to 800m at the culvert. There are no other stream crossing (culvert) barriers upstream of the crossing.


Provincial records indicate that in 1998 there were Rainbow Trout and Bull Trout captured upstream (MoE 2019; Triton Environmental Consultants Ltd. 1999) of the crossing with Rainbow Trout, Bull Trout, Slimy Sculpin and Burbot captured below. Hagen et al. (2015) have identified the Missinka River watershed as containing critical spawning habitat for large body adult Bull Trout with potentially less than 50 spawners utilizing the watershed. Critical juvenile Bull Trout rearing habitat is also noted as present in the Missinka River watershed (Hagen et al. 2015).


The Missinka River watershed is utilized by a possibly genetically distinct, self-sustaining Arctic Grayling population with the mainstem of the river providing critical habitat for fry and adult fish (Shrimpton, Roberts, and Clarke 2012; Hagen et al. 2015).


In 2018, the Missinka River watershed was designated as a fisheries sensitive watershed under the authority of the Forest and Range Practices Act due to significant downstream fisheries values and watershed sensitivity (Beaudry 2013). Special management is required in the crossing’s watershed to protect habitat for Bull Trout and Arctic Grayling and includes measures (among others) to limit equivalent clearcut area, reduce impacts to natural stream channel morphology, retain old growth attributes and maintain fish habitat/movement (Forest and Range Practices Act 2018).


Following office review, PSCIS stream crossing 125179 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 instream (2.1km) habitat with a relatively large channel size (4.2m) and Bull Trout documented upstream (Table 2). The crossing was also ranked by Hooft (2014) as a high priority for follow up. The habitat confirmation was completed on August 29, 2019. A map of the watershed including areas surveyed is provided in Attachment 1 – Map 093I116.


Stream Characteristics at Crossing

At the time of the survey, the double culvert (1.2m diameter each) was considered a barrier to upstream fish passage with a length of 10m, a culvert slope of 5% and an outlet drop of 0.3m (Table 3, Figure 1). Water temperature was 8\(^\circ\)C and conductivity was 32uS/cm.


Stream Characteristics Downstream

The stream was surveyed downstream from the culvert for 360m. Abundant large woody debris and overhanging vegetation was available for cover and there were large areas of gravels suitable for salmonid spawning present (Figures 2 - 3). The stream had good flow with an average channel width of 2.8m, an average wetted width of 2.4m and an average gradient of 6.3% (Table 4). No barriers were observed and none were likely located downstream of the area surveyed due to low gradients and significant flow volume. Habitat value downstream of the crossing was rated as high


Stream Characteristics Upstream

The stream was surveyed upstream from the culvert for 520m. The average channel width was 3.8m, the average wetted width was 2.5m and the average gradient was 8.7% (Table 4). Large woody debris and undercut banks were present for cover throughout. There were sections of gravel suitable for spawning and deep pools noted (Figures 4 - 5). Habitat value upstream of the crossing was rated as high


Conclusion

There is approximately 2km of mainstem habitat upstream of crossing 125179 modeled as less than 22% gradient. The majority of this habitat is likely of high value with Rainbow Trout presence confirmed up to 1.5km upstream of the crossing (Triton Environmental Consultants Ltd. 1999). Bull Trout has also been confirmed upstream of the crossing and the watershed is designated as Fisheries Sensitive with critical habitat for the species known nearby. The forest licensee in the area is Sinclar Group and the road tenure holder is the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations & Rural Development (FLNR). Overall, the crossing located on the Chuchinka-Missinka FSR was ranked as a high priority for rehabilitation.


As the result of 2019 field work findings and ongoing communications between SERNbc, McLeod Lake Indian Band, Sinclar Group and FLNR, site plan designs have been developed for a fish passable structure at the crossing (Digital Attachment 3). Of note, crossing 125179 is adjacent to other streams of similar size and character which are also transected by FSR crossing structure barriers (i.e. PSCIS Crossings 125180 and 125186). Should fish passage restoration at crossing 125179 be completed, this setting could present a scenario favorable for monitoring impacts of the works on local fish populations (i.e. biological monitoring at the stream where crossing 125179 is located can be compared not only to pre-restoration conditions but also to adjacent similar systems where non-remediated crossing structures are located).

Table 1: Overview of stream crossing.
Site Stream Road Tenure UTM (10N) Fish Species Habitat Gain (km) Priority
125179 Trib to Missinka River Chuchinka-Missinka FSR FLNRORD 5506 11 0 570308 6052835 BT, RB 2 High


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
093I116 2.1
4.2 BT, RB Medium High Larger stream with BT upstream.


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
125179 1.2 10 no no 2 0.3 0.3 2.3 Barrier


Table 4: Summary of habitat details
Site Location Length Surveyed (m) Channel Width (m) Wetted Width (m) Pool depth (m) Gradient (%) Habitat Value
125179 Upstream 520 3.8 2.5 0.4 8.7 High
125179 Downstream 360 2.8 2.4 0.7 6.3 High


Inlet of PSCIS crossing 125179 (UTM: 10N 570308 6052835).

Figure 1: Inlet of PSCIS crossing 125179 (UTM: 10N 570308 6052835).


Habitat downstream of PSCIS crossing 125179 (UTM: 10N 570061 6052726).

Figure 2: Habitat downstream of PSCIS crossing 125179 (UTM: 10N 570061 6052726).


Habitat downstream of PSCIS crossing 125179 (UTM: 10N 570017 6052685).

Figure 3: Habitat downstream of PSCIS crossing 125179 (UTM: 10N 570017 6052685).


View of habitat upstream of crossing 125179 (UTM: 10N 570255 6052822).

Figure 4: View of habitat upstream of crossing 125179 (UTM: 10N 570255 6052822).


View of habitat upstream of crossing 125179 (UTM: 10N 570228 6052811).

Figure 5: View of habitat upstream of crossing 125179 (UTM: 10N 570228 6052811).


References

Beaudry, Pierre G. 2013. “Assessment and Assignment of Sensitivity Ratings to Sub-Basins of the Missinka Watershed in Parsnp Drainage – Ominieca Region. Contract Number: GS14FWH-006.” Report. P. Beaudry; Associates Ltd. http://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/acat/public/viewReport.do?reportId=51631.

Forest and Range Practices Act. 2018. “Order - Fisheries Sensitive Watershed Prince George Forest District.” http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/frpa/fsw/approved.html.

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.”

Hooft, Jason. 2014. “Prince George Forest District: Parsnip Watershed 468 Locations Contract: PD14TGB003,” 25.

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.

Shrimpton, J. M., S. L. Roberts, and A. D. Clarke. 2012. “Genetic Analysis of Arctic Grayling Population Structure in the Williston Watershedcfe3011493.Pdf.” http://a100.gov.bc.ca/appsdata/acat/documents/r38246/Report_311_GR_genetics_2012_1379090176074_c3e946726980918f9466d47b59978ad28ded2b969041dd7fe53b83cfe3011493.pdf.

Triton Environmental Consultants Ltd. 1999. “Reconnaissance (1:20,000) Fish and Fish Habitat Inventory of the Missinka River Watershed WSC: 236-614900.”