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Island Voices: Colquitz River must be better protected

As stewards of our region’s watersheds, all levels of government must work together with the McKenzie interchange project’s leaders to protect the Colquitz River from further environmental impacts.
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The McKenzie interchange project has discharged sediment-laden water into the Colquitz River on several occasions, Colin Plant writes.

As stewards of our region’s watersheds, all levels of government must work together with the McKenzie interchange project’s leaders to protect the Colquitz River from further environmental impacts.

For the past three winters, there have been several incidents where sediment-laden water was released into the salmon-bearing river from this construction site — including a mechanical pump failure after heavy rains in December and another unexpected breach on Jan. 5.

The Colquitz River is one of the capital region’s most important waterways for spawning populations of both salmon and trout. Significant efforts have been made by community groups to restore and improve fish habitat for the past 20 years — important progress that is at risk of being overturned if best management practices for sediment and erosion control are not consistently and effectively applied for the duration of this construction project.

Sediment can smother aquatic feeding sites, clog spawning beds and suffocate fish currently spawning in the river by scratching and inflaming their gills. The Portage Inlet that the Colquitz River drains into is a low-flush estuary, so silt and contaminants settle into its seabed, affecting the entire ecosystem.

Although the McKenzie interchange project does have several measures in place to treat discharged water and prevent flooding, this infrastructure has proven to be inadequate during heavy rainfall events — at the most critical time when salmon are returning to the river to spawn.

The Gorge Waterway Initiative — a group of residents and representatives from local governments co-ordinated by the Capital Regional District — has been in regular contact with the province’s Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure for the past four years to raise concerns about these incidents.

Using the principles of integrated watershed management as a guide, the CRD remains committed to this important restorative work though its harbours, environmental monitoring and stormwater source-control services.

Now that the federal government has declared our local marine environment a critical habitat for southern resident orcas, protecting and restoring our region’s salmon-bearing rivers has become even more urgent. With low salmon stocks cited as a key factor in declining orca populations — and Premier John Horgan’s recent call to develop a provincial strategy to protect wild salmon — there has never been a more critical time to ensure this vital watershed is protected from further damage.

Colin Plant chairs the board of directors of the Capital Regional District.