Crossing 125345 and 57687 - Chuchinka-Colbourne FSR and CN Railway - Trib to Parsnip River
Site Location
Crossing 125345 is located on an unnamed tributary to the Parsnip River just south-east of Reynolds Creek near the 13km mark of the Chuchinka-Colbourne FSR. The culvert is located 0.2km upstream from the confluence of the stream and the Parsnip River (Table 1). PSCIS crossing 57687 is located immediately upstream of the FSR under the CN Railway. At the time of the field surveys, there was very little activity on the FSR and the road was in disrepair. Less than 1km south of the crossing location, there was a washout on the FSR that had narrowed the road to a width just barely passable by 4 x 4 pickup.
Background Information
At the crossing location, the stream is 4th order with a watershed area upstream of the road estimated at 16.2km2. The elevation of the watershed ranges from a maximum of 900m to 730m at the culvert. Although, there are several modeled crossings located on tributary streams upstream of the FSR and railway crossings (modeled crossings 16601006, 16601673, 16601173, 16601175, 16600094 and 16601726), there is not significant amounts of habitat modeled upstream of their mapped locations.
There are no stream sample sites or fish observations for the subject stream recorded within the provincial fisheries information summary system (MoE 2019b, 2019a).
Following office review, PSCIS stream crossing 125345 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 habitat (35.6km), wetland habitat (58.5ha) and a relatively large channel size of 3.5m (Table 2). The habitat confirmation was completed on September 06, 2019. A map of the watershed including areas surveyed is provided in Attachment 1 – Map 093J124.
Stream Characteristics at Crossing
At the time of the survey, crossing 125345 was un-embedded and non-backwatered. The double pipe culvert (1.2m each) was considered a barrier to upstream fish passage with pipe lengths of 13m and a culvert slope of 1% (Table 3, Figure 1). Crossing 57687 under the railway was also a double pipe structure and was considered a barrier as it was un-embedded and non-backwatered with pipe lengths of 18m, diameters of 1.2m each and a culvert slope of 2% (Figure 2). Water temperature was 10\(^\circ\)C and conductivity was recorded as 180uS/cm.
Stream Characteristics Downstream
The stream was surveyed downstream from the culvert for 220m to the confluence of the Parsnip River (Figure 3). Overall, total cover amount was rated as moderate with undercut banks dominant (Figures 4 - 5). Cover was also present as small woody debris, large woody debris, and overhanging vegetation. Gravels suitable for spawning were abundant throughout the area surveyed. The average channel width was 4.2m, the average wetted width was 3.3m and the average gradient was 2.8% (Table 4). Habitat value downstream of the crossing was rated as high with salmonid fry and cyprinids observed downstream throughout the area surveyed. At the time of the survey, trailers were present at a hunting and fishing camp located near the confluence of the stream and the Parsnip River.
Stream Characteristics Upstream
The stream was surveyed upstream from the culvert for 680m. Beaver activity was present in the area surveyed with a 0.6 m high structure noted approximately 180m upstream from crossing 125345 (Figure 6). The average channel width was 4.7m, the average wetted width was 3.9m and the average gradient was 3.2% (Table 4). Riparian vegetation was comprised of a mature coniferous forest and instream cover quantity was rated as moderate. The dominant form of cover was deep pools with small woody debris, large woody debris, undercut banks, and overhanging vegetation also available. Gravels suitable for spawning were abundant throughout the area surveyed (Figures 7 - 8). There were no barriers to upstream fish migration observed. Habitat value upstream of the crossing was rated as high.
Conclusion
There is approximately 4.7km of mainstem habitat upstream of crossing 125345 modeled as less than 22% gradient with several large tributaries also present likely providing additional high value fish habitat. Habitat surveyed was rated as high value for salmonids with fish presence confirmed immediately downstream of the crossings. The forest licensees in the area are BC Timber Sales and Sinclar Group. The road tenure holder is the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations & Rural Development (FLNR). Overall, crossing 125345 and 57687 were ranked as high priorities for rehabilitation. Works on this stream will require coordination between CN Rail and FLNR to remediate fish passage at both crossings.
| Site | Stream | Road | Tenure | UTM (10N) | Fish Species | Habitat Gain (km) | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 125345 | Trib to Parsnip River | Chuchinka-Colbourne FSR | FLNRORD 5506 04 0 | 522549 6083674 | (RB), CC | 4.7 | High |
| Map 50k | Instream (km) | Lake (ha) | Wetland (ha) | Channel Width (m) | Fish Upstream | Habitat Value | Rank | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 093J124 | 35.6 |
|
58.5 | 3.5 |
|
Low | High | Larger stream. Railway just upstream (57687) with habitat rated as high value. |
| Site | Diameter (m) | Length (m) | Embedded | Backwatered | Fill Depth (m) | Outlet Drop (m) | Outlet Pool Depth (m) | Stream Width Ratio | Barrier Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 57687 | 1.2 | 18 | no | no | 2 | 0 | 0.3 | 3.5 | Barrier |
| 125345 | 1.2 | 13 | no | no | 1 | 0 | 0.6 | 3.5 | Barrier |
| Site | Location | Length Surveyed (m) | Channel Width (m) | Wetted Width (m) | Pool depth (m) | Gradient (%) | Habitat Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 125345 | Upstream | 680 | 4.7 | 3.9 | 0.4 | 3.2 | High |
| 125345 | Downstream | 220 | 4.2 | 3.3 | 0.5 | 2.8 | High |
Figure 1: Outlet of PSCIS crossing 125345 (UTM: 10N 522547 6083657).
Figure 2: Inlet of PSCIS crossing 57687 (UTM: 10N 522580 6083682).
Figure 3: Confluence with Parsnip River downstream of PSCIS crossing 125345 (UTM: 10N 522580 6083481).
Figure 4: Habitat downstream of PSCIS crossing 125345 ().
Figure 5: Habitat downstream of PSCIS crossing 125345 (UTM: 10N 522573 6083540).
Figure 6: View of habitat upstream of crossing 125345 (UTM: 10N 522713 6083740).
Figure 7: View of habitat upstream of crossing 125345 (UTM: 10N 522770 6083776).
Figure 8: View of habitat upstream of crossing 125345 (UTM: 10N 522922 6084045).
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.