Musqueam Creek Wild Salmon Habitat Stewardship & Restoration Project: Hydrological Assessment Phase One
Musqueam Creek is Vancouver’s last wild salmon stream supporting runs of wild Coho, Chum and Cutthroat Trout. Being wild the Musqueam Coho stock it is an important contributor to the health and biodiversity of Fraser River Pacific Salmon and an invaluable culture resource to the Musqueam Nation.
However, the production of salmonids in this system is limit by low summer flows. Our Musqueam Creek Wild Salmon Habitat Stewardship & Restoration Project: Hydrological Assessment Phase One was designed to review and compile all available information on the hydrology and biology of the Musqueam/ Cutthroat Creek watershed and their salmonid populations.
Through this report we collected and analyzed…
1. Preliminary hydrological and geological data on the Musqueam and Cutthroat Creek stream channels. Fraser Salmon and Watersheds Program 2008 Final Report
2. Hydrological and geological data on the UBC Endowment Lands, the UBC EL Ecological Zone #74 and the GVRD Pacific Spirit Park surficial aquifer.
3.Detailed Geographical Information Systems (GIS) data, Light Detection & Ranging (LIDar) remote sensing, and stream survey information for the entire Musqueam/ Cutthroat Creek watershed.
4. Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and historic records on the historic development of the watershed and its stream channels.
5. Historic biological data on fish production and water quality.
This report has provided us will a clearer picture of the hydrology of the Musqueam & Cutthroat Creek watershed highlighting a factors affecting the flow of water in this system. Further, this report has provided us with some preliminary recommendations for further study as well as, recommendations for potential restoration opportunities. (See attached Executive Summery for more details.)