An abundance of coho jumping in the Gorge Waterway is proof that nature, once damaged by pollution and habitat destruction, can recover. But it’s also a reminder that vigilance over vulnerable ecosystems should not be relaxed.
Salmon-watchers and others delight in the thousands of coho in the Gorge this year as they await the right conditions to enter the Colquitz River and Craigflower Creek for spawning. It’s a welcome sight in a body of water that was once not much better than an open sewer.
From the 1890s to the 1930s, the Gorge Waterway was one of Victoria’s favourite spots. People came from all over for regattas there, but the Gorge was best known as Victoria’s swimming resort. By the early 1920s, six swimming clubs were based along the waterway.
Its popularity for swimming began to wane with the opening of the Crystal Pool in 1926.
Then “progress” began to take its toll. Industrial and residential development along the shoreline was not designed and maintained with the well-being of the waterway in mind. The quality of the water declined. By the late 1980s, heavy metals, gasoline and industrial chemicals were leaching into the waterway from adjacent worksites and derelict boats. Pesticides and herbicides washed in from neighbouring gardens and parks.
Fecal coliform counts from human and animal waste were sometimes well above the safe level. The upper reaches of the Gorge, which lie beyond the cleansing effect of ocean currents, were heavily contaminated. Garbage collected along the shore and in the shallows.
The conditions that made the Gorge unattractive for humans destroyed habitat for many forms of marine life. The once-abundant runs of salmon and herring dwindled. Barriers on the spawning streams that flow into the Gorge further contributed to the decline of salmon stocks.
Valiant volunteer efforts during the past two decades by such organizations as the Gorge Waterway Action Society, Veins of Life and the Victoria Canoe and Kayak Club have brought the waterway back to life. Once one of the most polluted waterways on the B.C. coast, the Gorge is now among the cleanest. The water quality is excellent and the Gorge is once again a good place for people to swim. There is an annual Gorge Swim Fest, reviving a tradition that stretches back 100 years.
Even better, it’s a good place for salmon to swim, as this spawning season attests. Salmon again spawn in the Colquitz and the Craigflower, something rare and wonderful for urban streams.
But this isn’t a time to be complacent. Not everything that was lost has been restored — the herring still have not returned in past numbers — and that which has been restored can easily be lost again.
Those urban streams are always vulnerable to pollution — at least eight oil spills have contaminated the Colquitz in the past four years. Sediment resulting from construction and other activities hinders spawning and lowers water quality. Pesticides and fertilizers can be part of the runoff that enters streams. One bad spill of hazardous material could undo much of the work done by diligent volunteers during the past 20 years.
We humans are the only creatures on the planet capable of being conscious of the effect we have on the environment, and thus are the only creatures that can act to improve the environment or prevent damage. We are not always conscious, though, of the far-reaching effects of what we do.
Coho salmon jumping in the renewed waters of the Gorge is a reason to celebrate. It is also a reminder of what can be lost if we do not step carefully.
