Crossing 125180 - Chuchinka-Missinka FSR - Trib to Missinka River

Site Location

Crossing 125180 is located on an unnamed tributary to the Missinka River near the 11km mark of the Chuchinka-Missinka FSR. The culvert is located approximately 660m west of surveyed crossing 125179 and joins this adjacent stream before emptying into the Missinka River 0.9km downstream of the crossing (Table 1). At the time of the field surveys, there was very little traffic on the FSR, the road was in disrepair and there appeared to be no active logging in the immediate area.

Background Information

The unnamed tributary to the Missinka River is a 2nd order stream with a watershed area upstream of the crossing of 4km². The elevation of the watershed ranges from a maximum of 1600m to 800m at the culvert. There are no other stream crossing (culvert) barriers on the mainstem of the stream upstream of the Chuchinka-Missinka FSR.

Provincial records indicate that in 1998 there were Rainbow Trout captured upstream (MoE 2019; Triton Environmental Consultants Ltd. 1999). 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 rearing habitat is also noted as present (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 125180 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 (3.9m), Rainbow Trout documented upstream and low average gradients modeled for a significant length (~1km) upstream (Table 2). The habitat confirmation was completed on September 08, 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 un-embedded double culvert (1.2m each) was considered a barrier to upstream fish passage with a length of 20m and a culvert slope of 3% (Table 3, Figure 1). Water temperature was 10\(^\circ\)C and conductivity was 38uS/cm.

Stream Characteristics Downstream

The stream was surveyed downstream from the culvert for 600m. Overhanging vegetation was the dominant form of cover and there were abundant gravels present suitable for salmonid spawning (Figures 2 - 3). The stream had good flow with an average channel width of 3.9m, an average wetted width of 2.8m and an average gradient of 5% (Table 4). No barriers were observed and none were likely located downstream of the surveyed area 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 530m. The average channel width was 4.3m, the average wetted width was 3.2m and the average gradient was 6.5% (Table 4). Frequent pockets of gravel suitable for spawning were present at pool tailouts and behind large woody debris (Figures 4 - 5). Although no obstacles to fish passage were noted during 2019 surveys, historic fisheries information indicates that multiple potential obstacles to fish passage (log jam, a cascade and multiple falls) were located near the top end of the surveyed section of stream in 1998. However, it should also be noted that in 1998, Rainbow Trout were captured in the mainstem of the system 800m upstream of the top end of the 2019 site (MoE 2019; Triton Environmental Consultants Ltd. 1999). Habitat value upstream of the crossing was rated as high

Conclusion

There is approximately 2km of mainstem habitat upstream of crossing 125180 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 is known to utilize the adjacent stream of similiar size and topography and the watershed is designated as Fisheries Sensitive with critical habitat for spawning and juvenile rearing known in the Missinka River system. 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. Overall, the crossing located on the Chuchinka-Missinka FSR was ranked as a high priority for rehabilitation.

Table 1: Overview of stream crossing.

Site	Stream	Road	Tenure	UTM (10N)	Fish Species	Habitat Gain (km)	Priority
125180	Trib to Missinka River	Chuchinka-Missinka FSR	FLNRORD 5506 11 0	569649 6053047	RB		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			3.9	RB	Medium	High	Larger stream with near 1 km habitat modelled <5% average slope.

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
125180	1.2	20	no	no	1	0	0.2	3.6	Barrier

Table 4: Summary of habitat details

Site	Location	Length Surveyed (m)	Channel Width (m)	Wetted Width (m)	Pool depth (m)	Gradient (%)	Habitat Value
125180	Upstream	530	4.3	3.2	0.5	6.5	High
125180	Downstream	600	3.9	2.8	0.4	5	High

Figure 1: Inlet of PSCIS crossing 125180 (UTM: 10N 569673 6053040).

Figure 2: Habitat downstream of PSCIS crossing 125180 (UTM: 10N 569689 6052793).

Figure 3: Habitat downstream of PSCIS crossing 125180 (UTM: 10N 569694 6052736).

Figure 4: View of habitat upstream of crossing 125180 (UTM: 10N 569495 6053464).

Figure 5: View of habitat upstream of crossing 125180 (UTM: 10N 569672 6053040).

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.”

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.”