Appendix - 50159 - Tributary to Lizard Creek

Site Location

Crossing 50159 is located on a tributary to Lizard Creek, approximately 150m upstream from the confluence with Lizard Creek. This crossing has also been recorded in PSCIS as crossing 62510. The culvert is located at approximately 5.5km up Island Lake Lodge Road which is an extension of Mt.Fernie Park Road. The area is accessed off of Highway 3 within Fernie city limits and is a popular recreational destination for hikers, skiers and mountain bikers. Island Lake Lodge is located at 1400m of elevation near Island Lake and is a year round tourist destination providing accommodations, guided hiking and backcountry catskiing for clients. The subject stream is not mapped in the freshwater atlas stream layer and may have been diverted as part of a micro-hydro facilty for Island Lake Lodge. A small building that may be a generating station was observed on aerial imagery approximately 1500m upstream of the road.


Background

At the crossing location, the stream had good flow and is located within an area of old growth cedar adjacent to a recreation trail. At the time of the survey the stream was the highest volume tributary to Lizard Creek located on the east side of the valley. No fisheries information was available for the stream (MoE 2020d), however, Lizard Creek supports westslope cutthroat trout, bull trout, mountain whitefish, brook trout, longnose sucker and longnose dace (MoE 2020b). Elk River Alliance (2020) conducted redd surveys in Lizard Creek in 2019 along with Morrissey Creek, Coal Creek and Forsyth Creek. A total of 55 redds were observed within a 2.4km section of Lizard Creek comprising the largest densities of redds of the four tributaries surveyed (22.9 redds/km).


PSCIS stream crossing 50159 was ranked as a high priority for follow up with habitat confirmation due to the relatively large size of the stream recorded in PSCIS (channel width = 3.5m) relative to other tributary streams in the Lizard Creek watershed and because it was rated as containing high value habitat by VAST Resource Solutions Inc. (2013) and Grainger (2011). The habitat confirmation was completed on September 22, 2020. A map of the watershed including areas surveyed is provided in Attachment 1 – Map 082G.113.


Stream Characteristics at Crossing

At the time of the survey, the un-embedded and non-backwatered 0.8m diameter crossing was considered a barrier to upstream fish passage with a pipe length of 12m, a culvert slope of 8%, a stream width ratio of 3.1 and an outlet drop of 1.6m (Table 5.7). Water temperature was 10\(^\circ\)C, pH was 7.6 and conductivity was 729uS/cm.


Stream Characteristics Downstream

The stream was surveyed downstream from the culvert for 150m to Lizard Creek. Overall, total cover amount was rated as moderate with large woody debris dominant. Cover was also present as small woody debris, deep pools, and overhanging vegetation (Table 5.4, Figure 5.4). The average channel width was 2.5m, the average wetted width was 2.3m and the average gradient was 8.8%. The dominant substrate was gravels with cobbles subdominant. Some small pools and steps of 0.2 - 0.6m in height were present throughout the area surveyed. Large woody debris steps ranging from 0.4 - 0.8m high were spaced sporadically throughout area surveyed. Habitat value was rated as moderate for salmonid fry/juvenile rearing and high value habitat for spawning.


Stream Characteristics Upstream

The stream was surveyed upstream from the culvert for 400m. Overall, total cover amount was rated as moderate with undercut banks dominant. Cover was also present as small woody debris, large woody debris, and deep pools (Table 5.4, Figure 5.5). The average channel width was 3m, the average wetted width was 2.6m and the average gradient was 11.2%. There were abundant gravels suitable for resident and fluvial westslope cutthrout trout spawning. Frequent pools to 40cm deep were present and associated with small and large woody debris. The stream contained relatively flatter sections from 3 - 8% and steeper sections of 15 - 18% for first 350m above culvert where the stream becomes too steep for upstream salmonid passage (35% - UTM: 11 U 632810 5484842). Habitat was rated as high value for salmonid rearing and spawning.



Structure Remediation and Cost Estimate

Structure replacement with a bridge is recommended to provide access to the habitat located upstream of PSCIS crossing 50159. The cost of the work is estimated at $125,000 for a cost benefit of 2.8 linear m/$1000 and 8.4m2/$1000.



Conclusion

There is 0.35km of habitat upstream of crossing 50159 within old growth cedar riparian forest before the stream becomes too steep for upstream fish migration (>22%). The habitat surveyed upstream of the crossing was rated as high value for salmonid rearing and spawning with good flows, large woody debris throughout and abundant gravels suitable for spawning. The subject stream is not mapped in the freshwater atlas stream layer and may have been diverted from upstream flows as part of a micro-hydro facilty for Island Lake Lodge. The road may be permitted to Island Lake Lodge or solely the responsibility of the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations & Rural Development. The crossing was ranked as a moderate priority for proceeding to design for replacement with an open bottomed structure. Elecrofishing upstream and downstream of the crossing is recommended to determine utilization of habitat before and after restorative measures.

Table 5.7: Summary of fish passage reassessment for PSCIS crossing 50159.
Location and Stream Data
Crossing Characteristics –
Date 2020-09-22 Crossing Sub Type Round Culvert
PSCIS ID 50159 Diameter (m) 0.8
External ID – Length (m) 12
Crew KP, AI Embedded No
UTM Zone 11 Depth Embedded (m) –
Easting 633320 Resemble Channel No
Northing 5484601 Backwatered No
Stream Tributary to Lizard Creek Percent Backwatered –
Road Island Lake Lodge Road Fill Depth (m) 1
Road Tenure MoTi recreation Outlet Drop (m) 1.6
Channel Width (m) 2.45 Outlet Pool Depth (m) 0
Stream Slope (%) 9 Inlet Drop Yes
Beaver Activity No Slope (%) 8
Habitat Value Medium Valley Fill Deep Fill
Photos: From top left clockwise: Road/Site Card, Barrel, Outlet, Downstream, Upstream, Inlet.
Table 5.8: Summary of habitat details for PSCIS crossing 50159.
Location Length Surveyed (m) Channel Width (m) Wetted Width (m) Pool Depth (m) Gradient (%) Total Cover Habitat Value
Upstream 400 3.0 2.6 0.4 11.2 moderate high
Downstream 150 2.5 2.3 0.2 8.8 moderate high


Typical habitat downstream of PSCIS crossing 50159.

Figure 5.6: Typical habitat downstream of PSCIS crossing 50159.


Typical habitat upstream of PSCIS crossing 50159.

Figure 5.7: Typical habitat upstream of PSCIS crossing 50159.