Crossing 125403 - Hodda Lake FSR - Trib to Parsnip River

Site Location

Crossing 125403 is located on an unnamed tributary to Parsnip River near the 17.3km mark of the Hodda Lake FSR. The culvert is also recorded in the PSCIS database as crossing 57606. The culvert is located 0.4km upstream from the confluence of the stream and the Parsnip River (Table 1). At the time of the field surveys, there appeared to be no active log hauling on the FSR.


Background Information

At the crossing location, the stream is 2nd order with a watershed area upstream of the road of approximately 4km2. The elevation of the watershed ranges from a maximum of 900m to 750m at the culvert. One PSCIS crossing (57608) and several modeled crossings (79706, 189512, 190084, 79707, 7289, 6472) are located upstream on small tributaries to the mainstem of the subject stream. Provincial records indicate that there is no fisheries information available for the stream (???; MoE 2019b).


Following office review, PSCIS stream crossing 125403 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 (6.1km) habitat with a relatively large channel size (3.1m) and potentially high value habitat as indicated by contractor habitat value assignment (Table 2). Of note, Hooft (2014) had prioritized this crossing for rehabilitation ranking it 13th of 18 priorities identified. The habitat confirmation was completed on August 30, 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, the un-embedded and non-backwatered 0.8m 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 0.48m (Table 3, Figure 1). Water temperature was 7\(^\circ\)C, pH was 8.4 and conductivity was 230uS/cm.


Stream Characteristics Downstream

The stream was surveyed downstream from the culvert for 120m to within the floodplain of the Parsnip River. Overall, total cover amount was rated as abundant with undercut banks dominant. Cover was also present as small woody debris, large woody debris, boulders, deep pools, overhanging vegetation, and instream vegetation (Figures 2 - 3). The average channel width was 2.2m, the average wetted width was 2.1m and the average gradient was 2.5% (Table 4). Riparian vegetation was primarily shrubs and streambed substrates were dominated by fines. One salmonid parr (suspected Rainbow Trout - 120mm fork length) was observed in a small pool area located approximately 20m downstream of the culvert.


Stream Characteristics Upstream

The stream was surveyed upstream from the culvert for 350m. The initial 50m of habitat upstream of the crossing was shallow beaver influenced wetland with a section of small channel flowing for approximately 150m from an extensive beaver influenced wetland complex located upstream (Figures 4 - 5). The average channel width was 2.1m, the average wetted width was 1.9m and the average gradient was 1.1% (Table 4). Riparian vegetation was comprised of a young coniferous forest. Total cover amount was rated as abundant with the dominant form as undercut banks and small woody debris, large woody debris, deep pools, and overhanging vegetation also available. Upstream of the crossing, habitat was rated as low value due to a lack of areas suitable for spawning, and the apparently shallow depths of the majority of upstream wetland habitat present.


Conclusion

There is an estimated 2.4km of mainstem habitat upstream of crossing 125403 within a beaver influenced plateau. Habitat in the areas surveyed upstream of the crossing was rated as low value. Review of Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations & Rural Development (FLNR) licensee operating areas maps indicate that the forest licensees in the area were BCTS and Canfor Forest Products Ltd. and the road tenure holder was the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations & Rural Development (MoE 2019a). The crossing was ranked as a low priority for rehabilitation due to a lack of suitable spawning habitat and likely shallow depths of upstream wetland habitat present.


Table 1: Overview of stream crossing.
Site Stream Road Tenure UTM (10N) Fish Species Habitat Gain (km) Priority
125403 Trib to Parsnip River Hodda Lake FSR FLNRORD 7698 01 0 520140 6084908
2.4 Low


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
093J124 6.1
3.1
Medium High Same as crossing 57606. Rated by Marlim as high habitat value. Close to Parsnip R.


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
125403 0.8 20 no no 3 0.5 0.5 2.9 Barrier


Table 4: Summary of habitat details
Site Location Length Surveyed (m) Channel Width (m) Wetted Width (m) Pool depth (m) Gradient (%) Habitat Value
125403 Upstream 350 2.1 1.9 0.5 1.1 Low
125403 Downstream 120 2.2 2.1 0.4 2.5 Low


Outlet of PSCIS crossing 125403 (UTM: 10N 520140 6084908).

Figure 1: Outlet of PSCIS crossing 125403 (UTM: 10N 520140 6084908).


Habitat downstream of PSCIS crossing 125403 (UTM: 10N 520173 6084926).

Figure 2: Habitat downstream of PSCIS crossing 125403 (UTM: 10N 520173 6084926).


Habitat downstream of PSCIS crossing 125403 (UTM: 10N 520221 6084886).

Figure 3: Habitat downstream of PSCIS crossing 125403 (UTM: 10N 520221 6084886).


View of habitat upstream of PSCIS crossing 125403 (UTM: 10N 520133 6084912).

Figure 4: View of habitat upstream of PSCIS crossing 125403 (UTM: 10N 520133 6084912).


View of habitat upstream of PSCIS crossing 125403 (UTM: 10N 520004 6084647).

Figure 5: View of habitat upstream of PSCIS crossing 125403 (UTM: 10N 520004 6084647).



References

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

MoE. 2019a. “Forest Tenure Road Segment Lines - Data Catalogue.” https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/forest-tenure-road-segment-lines.

———. 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.