1. Culvert Project Fish Passage – Moving from a focused culvert evaluation to FREP. Richard Thompson Senior Habitat Biologist Ministry of Environment

2. Background Overview of Process Field Methods –Overview –Detailed FREP – What’s next.

3. BACKGROUND “Poor culvert design and location can be ranked among the most devastating fish constraints to be found in the Province. The correction of which is vital to the maintenance of present spawning areas and the rehabilitation of areas no longer accessible because of past culvert failures. Until adequate corrective measures are taken, fish populations will continue to be detrimentally affected, and the province will be burdened with the difficult task of replacing dwindling numbers of fish stocks.” That quote was from a 1977 report to a Federal Provincial committee on Fishways and stream crossings.

4. FREP Question: Are forest road stream crossings or other forestry practices maintaining connectivity of fish habitats? Recent Work Washington –9700 culverts surveyed by 2003 –56 % failure rate –7600 miles of isolated or reduce capacity habitat BC –MoE Projected focused on high fish values and structures built since 1995. –Similar high failure rate. –2000 and 2001 projects by DFO and MoE identified issues with pre-code structures Need has been recognized to priorize and fix fish passage issues.

5. Planning Select watershed(s) using “Fish Value” and 1:50,000 Wshd Atlas Polygons Step 1 Fish Value Biodiversity Species Richness Red and Blue Socio Economic Salmon Escapement LakesSteelhead Selection process can be at any level i.e. provincial, regional, district etc. “Fish Value” is a provincial strategic tool used to rank watersheds

6. Watershed Groups: Prince George Forest District Forest District MOE Region Watershed Code Species Richness T&E Salmon Escapement Lake Value SH value Fish Value

7. “Fish Value” Score: PG Forest District BasinWatershed Avg. Poly Score# of Poly Rank w/i Basin ArcticParsnip Total0.16381161 ArcticCarp Total selected0.1452202 ArcticCrooked Total0.1381573 ArcticSmoky Total0.131994 ArcticMurray Total0.127025 ArcticMuskeg Total0.1028276 PacificHerrick Total0.1683401 PacificMcGregor Total selected0.1637572 PacificTabor Total0.1371463 PacificMorkill Total0.1333874 PacificWillow Total0.1238405 PacificLower Chilako Total0.1227626 PacificChilako Total0.1193127 PacificCottonwood Total0.1185328 PacificBowron Total0.1161499 PacificLower Salmon Total0.11494410 PacificBlackwater Total0.1144811 PacificStuart Total0.09821012

8. Watershed Groups: Prince George Forest District Forest District MOE Region Watershed Code Species Richness T&E Salmon Escapement Lake Value SH value Fish Value Carp McGregor

9. Planning Overlay known fish presence with specific road networks Step 2 GIS exercise Obtain maps of road network Concentrate on intersection of “known” fish streams and road network ALTERNATE: Random Road Segments tied to Water Quality Assessment

10. Four Ways to Evaluate Culverts for Fish Passage Experiments/surveys observing actual fish passage success Velocity measurements Hydraulic analysis Measurement of surrogates indicative of hydraulic conditions

11. The Overview and Detailed protocols used are surrogate methods Key advantages: –Surrogate measures can be done with people with little training –Surrogate protocols can cover more culverts in same amount of time boosting sample size –Information can be used in hydraulic analysis if right measures taken

12. Protocols used Overview Protocol: Used for quick survey of fish passage based on surrogates. Detailed Protocol: Detailed monitoring protocol based on fish passage guidelines like velocity tied back to surrogate measurements. Gives information to evaluate correction alternatives as well as information to determine why a structure has failed. Effectiveness of design, installation.

13. 14.Outlet Drop (cm) Quick measures with meter stick for overview* 15.Embedded?Yes No Circle (Visual) 16.Embedment Depth (30 cm or 20%) Yes No Circle (Visual) 17.Culvert Slope (%) (Clinometer) Clinometer quick measure 18.Culvert Dimensions (cm)x(m) _____ _____ _____ Meter Stick 19.Culvert Condition (circle all) New Worn Deteriorated Visual 20.Downstream Width (cm) __________ Tape or level rod 21.Backwatering (Circle) NA; None; Out; Barrel; Inlet Visual Measurements in and around outlet *Measures should take 5-10 minutes

14. #14. Outlet drop - Residual Pool Measurements Pool must be close enough for jump to culvert outlet (good distance and angle) Base measurements on residual pool surface Current water surface Residual water surface Length DepthDepth

15. Embedded Closed Bottom Culverts Non-embedded Closed bottom Culverts criteriathreshold embedment Min 30 cm or 20% of culvert diameter embedded throughout culvert N/A* slope Stream gradient less than 6% as per guidebook recommendations less than 1%* width Equal to or greater than 1X channel width at point of embedment for streams >3% For streams less 3% 0.8x of channel width equal to or greater than 0.8X channel width length N/A*less than 30 m outlet drop N/Aless than 15 cm for juveniles outlet pool N/Aminimum of 1.5x of outlet drop inlet drop N/ASame as outlet drop minimum depth? N/A evidence of backwatering to maintain minimum depth #26 Fish Passage Status (circle) Yes No Borderline

16. Summary – FREP What’s Next. Approach developed in Pilot can be applied to any scale in Province Systematic approach driven by priority watersheds FREP will adapt a randomized sample design. Adequate expertise exists for overview assessment – anyone should be able to do the overview after reviewing the protocol and some training. Detailed assessment will be done to on a sub-sample of problem structures to help determine exact cause of failure and drive continuous improvement. FREP monitoring will allow us to more accurately reflect the scope of the problem. Determine causal agents and improve practices. Richard Thompson – MoE – Richard.Thompson@gov.bc.ca