| Seymour River rock slide update | Seymour River rock slide update | <div class="ExternalClass85234B5D823142338B8D52CE7AE4DF60"><p>You may recall that in December 2014 there was a natural rock slide in the Seymour River, well below the Seymour Dam, but just inside the boundary of the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve, in an area of nature trails. A popular bridge over the Seymour River was impacted by the slide and upstream pooling and subsequently removed. River-side trails were also flooded. <a href="/metroupdate/issue-14/193/seymour-river-rock-fall,-trails-and-salmon" target="_blank">See the article published October 2015 for background</a></p><p>In the following weeks, Metro Vancouver confirmed that the rock was stable. The approximately 30,000 to 50,000 cubic metres of rock changed the shape of the river bed dramatically and contributed to pooling, which still exists in areas, but posed no danger to the communities downstream.</p><p>Once safety was confirmed, the concern was for the salmon run that use the river to access spawning grounds, now above the slide, and the Seymour Hatchery. </p><p>In 2015 there was a collaborative, some might say valiant, effort to move the returning salmon by hand from the mouth of the Seymour River to their end-destination, the spawning grounds above the rock slide. A tagging program in 2016 revealed that essentially no salmon were able to traverse the rock slide on their own. </p><p>The Seymour Salmonid Society, with many community partners at their side, have secured funding and expertise to break apart the rocks using low energy, controlled explosions. The first stage of blasting began in late August. The entire process of re-establishing natural river flows, thereby allowing the salmon to access spawning grounds, is expected to take three to five years. In the interim, a floating fish fence has been installed in the lower section of the river, which diverts returning salmon into a trap box. They are then collected and transported via tanker truck to their upstream spawning grounds. </p><p>Metro Vancouver is proud to be part of this endeavour. We’ve been supportive of the Seymour salmon run for many years, contributing staff and resources to habitat restoration, public education, maintaining river flows, and the operation of the hatchery. </p></div> | http://www.metrovancouver.org/metroupdate/PublishingImages/Issue24-SeymourRockSlide.jpg | 2016-09-27T07:00:00Z | GP0|#e2b01bb7-c847-4927-b23d-b35b5af84a41;L0|#0e2b01bb7-c847-4927-b23d-b35b5af84a41|Issue 24;GTSet|#d14ffe11-45dc-48fb-8684-ff109cf15a74 | <div class="ExternalClassA2A4044CB49D42C99F9A3E5A20796F31"><p>The Seymour Salmonid Society, with many community partners, is trying to re-establish natural river flows, and access to spawning grounds, in the Seymour River. </p></div> | 0 | |
