Crossing 125253 - Chuchinka-Table FSR - Trib to Parsnip River

Site Location

Crossing 125253 is located on an unnamed tributary to the Parsnip River near the 6.8km mark of the Chuchinka-Table FSR. The culvert is 1km upstream from the confluence of the Parsnip River which in turn is located approximately 3km downstream of where the Table River flows into the Parsnip River (Table 1). At the time of the field surveys, there was active logging on the FSR.

Background Information

At the crossing location, the stream is 3rd order with a watershed area upstream of the road of approximately 7km². The elevation of the watershed ranges from a maximum of approximately 1000m to 750m at the culvert. One previously unassessed crossing (16603267) is located approximately 60m downstream of the FSR under the CN Railway. Representatives from Canfor’s engineering team report that crossing 125253 is undersized for accommodating flow volumes and that water has backed up and overflowed onto the road on two occasions since 2017 (pers comm. Janine Gervais, Forestry Superintendent, Canadian Forest Products). Provincial records indicate that Rainbow Trout have been captured just downstream of the crossing (MoE 2019a).

Following office review, PSCIS stream crossing 125253 was ranked as a moderate priority for follow up with habitat confirmation due to the potential for rehabilitation of the crossing to provide access to modeled instream (11.2km) and wetland (7.1854382ha) habitat (Table 2). Review of a historic FISS sample site indicated that the channel width upstream was 2.2m as apposed to the 1.2m recorded within the PSCIS system (MoE 2019b). The habitat confirmation was completed on September 06, 2019. A map of the watershed including areas surveyed is provided in Attachment 1 – Map 093J119.

Stream Characteristics at Crossing

At the time of the survey, the un-embedded and non-backwatered double (0.8m each) culvert was considered a barrier to upstream fish passage with a pipe length of 16m and a culvert slope of 2% (Table 3, Figure 1). Water temperature was 12\(^\circ\)C and conductivity was 174uS/cm.

Stream Characteristics Downstream

The stream was surveyed downstream from the culvert for 240m to within the floodplain of the Parsnip River. Modeled crossing 16603267 was located downstream of the FSR approximately 60m and was assessed as a barrier (Figure 2). Overall, total cover amount was rated as moderate with undercut banks dominant (Figures 3 - 4). Cover was also present as small woody debris and overhanging vegetation. The average channel width was 4m, the average wetted width was 3.5m and the average gradient was 1.6% (Table 4). Habitat value downstream of the crossing was rated as high.

Stream Characteristics Upstream

The stream was surveyed upstream from the culvert for 800m. The average channel width was 4.2m, the average wetted width was 3.3m and the average gradient was 3% (Table 4). Riparian vegetation was comprised of a mature coniferous forest and instream cover quantity was rated as moderate. The dominant cover form was deep pools with small woody debris, large woody debris, undercut banks, and overhanging vegetation also available. Gravels suitable for spawning were present intermittently throughout the area surveyed and the channel morphology was riffle-pool (Figures 5 - 6). Although there were no permanent barriers, a beaver impounded area was located at the top end of the site (UTM:10 U 538462 6064926, Figure 7). Habitat value upstream of the crossing was rated as high.

Conclusion

Although there is approximately 4.5km of mainstem habitat upstream of crossing 125253 modeled as less than 22% gradient, the CN Railway culvert barrier located 60m downstream is also a barrier to fish passage and will require remediation for fish habitat gains upstream of the FSR to be realized. Habitat surveyed was rated as high value for salmonids between the railway and the FSR as well as between the FSR and the top end of the site surveyed. At the time of the survey, the forest licensees in the area were Sinclar Group and Canadian Forest Products Ltd. The road tenure holder was the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations & Rural Development. Overall, the crossing was ranked as a moderate priority for rehabilitation. Fish passage restoration at the crossing downstream under the CN Railway would also be required to realize habitat gains above the FSR.

Table 1: Overview of stream crossing.

Site	Stream	Road	Tenure	UTM (10N)	Fish Species	Habitat Gain (km)	Priority
125253	Trib to Parsnip River	Chuchinka-Table FSR	FLNRORD 5506 08 0	537735 6064732		4.5	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
093J119	11.2		7.2	1.4		Low	Mod	Appears passable to larger fish. Railway (16603267) to assess 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
125253	0.8	16	no	no	1	0	0	5	Barrier

Table 4: Summary of habitat details

Site	Location	Length Surveyed (m)	Channel Width (m)	Wetted Width (m)	Pool depth (m)	Gradient (%)	Habitat Value
125253	Downstream	240	4	3.5	0.5	1.6	High
125253	Upstream	800	4.2	3.3	0.5	3	High

Figure 1: Inlet of PSCIS crossing 125253 (UTM: 10N 537735 6064732).

Figure 2: Railway crossing (modeled crossing 16603267) located 60 m downstream of PSCIS crossing 125253 (UTM: 10N 537694 6064698).

Figure 3: Habitat downstream of PSCIS crossing 125253 (UTM: 10N 537633 6064566).

Figure 4: Confluence with Parsnip River downstream of PSCIS crossing 125253 (UTM: 10N 537621 6064553).

Figure 5: View of habitat upstream of crossing 125253 (UTM: 10N 537971 6064788).

Figure 6: View of habitat upstream of crossing 125253 (UTM: 10N 538393 6064876).

Figure 7: View of habitat upstream of crossing 125253 (UTM: 10N 538439 6064910).

References

MoE. 2019a. “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.

———. 2019b. “Stream Inventory Sample Sites.” Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy - Knowledge Management. https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/stream-inventory-sample-sites.