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Resurrecting the Cheakamus

Five years after the spill, Cheakamus River responding to restoration efforts
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Herculean efforts to repair the damage done by a 2005 sodium hydroxide spill on the Cheakamus River in Squamish are having a positive impact on a variety of aquatic species devastated by the disaster.

The caustic chemical killed virtually everything living in the river after a CN Rail train derailed in the Cheakamus Canyon, wreaking havoc on the glacial fed system in a matter of seconds.

To repair the damage, CN joined forces with the District of Squamish, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, B.C. Ministry of Environment and Squamish Nation to form the Cheakamus Ecosystem Recovery Plan, administered by a technical committee (CERTC). Through it, CN is undertaking a number of monitoring programs to track fish populations and is working cooperatively with BC Hydro under their Water Use Plan.

To mitigate the damage, CN has put $5.3 million towards restoration efforts and made another $2 million available to community groups with a vested interest in restoration, education and recovery through its Cheakamus Ecosystem Recovery Fund (CERF). To date $1.2 million of that fund has been used by various groups, but Edith Tobe, a habitat biologist and executive director of the Squamish River Watershed Society, says access to CERF has been arduous for some organizations.

"I do feel really strongly that the funds made available by CN for the recovery of the river, that they made available to the community through the Cheakamus Ecosystem Recovery Fund, are extremely limiting in their scope and it is difficult for many groups or organizations to access those funds because they are specific for the recovery of fisheries within the Cheakamus River, pretty specifically for the Chinook fisheries within the Cheakamus River," she said. "It would be much better to be able to be a little bit more expansive and have those funds available for other groups and a little bit broader interest for the watershed."

According to CN spokesperson Kelli Svendsen, the money is earmarked for - but not restricted to - target species determined to be most affected by the spill,specifically steelhead, Chinook, char and sculpin. To qualify for CERF, groups must focus on habitat creation, restoration or assessment; stock rehabilitation and assessment; education and awareness; and community stewardship projects that take place on the Cheakamus between the Daisy Lake dam and Squamish Estuary, including tributaries. Other restrictions include a mandatory volunteer component and a requirement to include additional funding partners. To date the Squamish River Watershed Society has accessed some of the funding to complete projects on the river relating to education, channel restoration, eelgrass restoration, and a creel survey. Other organizations that have tapped into CERF include the District of Squamish, The Nature Trust, British Columbia Conservation Foundation and the Squamish Environmental Conservation Society.

The fund has no requirements for application due dates, we will accept anytime and approve if the application meets the minimum requirements in the form," said Svendsen. "To assist smaller groups that may not have much experience or initial funding, they can apply for seed funding to help pay for designing the larger project."

Svendsen added that CN believes the community has responded well to the funding and that various groups have used it to benefit the river as planned. The grants were originally available until 2011, but will continue past that date until the funds are fully distributed.

To date, fish culture and habitat enhancements have proven effective and the data is showing well-balanced returns of salmon and improved numbers of resident fish, 90 per cent of which may have been effected by the spill.

"These strategies are expected to accelerate the recovery of the Cheakamus River to its pre-spill state and that's what we're seeing now," said Svendsen.

"We're very encouraged by the recovery numbers. This is the year that some of the species are coming back to the levels that we were expecting pre-spill."

Four salmon species use the river for spawning: Pink, Chum, Coho and Chinook. As each has a different spawning pattern and cycle of return, they were differently affected by the spill. Numbers of Pinks, which operate on a two-year spawning cycle, were slightly reduced in 2007 but back to normal in 2009. Chum weren't present in the river at the time of the spill and scientists have indicated it's possible those populations were not affected. Coho returns were reasonable in 2007 and flush in 2010, indicating a healthy recovery pattern. The health of the Chinook salmon, which spawn every four or five years, were of grave concern, but today's numbers are showing a strong comeback.

"I think the estimate was that 50 per cent of the adults in the river were killed," said Matt Foy, a Department of Fisheries and Operations biologist assigned to the Cheakamus Restoration Team.

"They are in the recovery phase this year, which means the five-year-olds from 2005 and the four-year-olds from the next year came back very strong. Their numbers look very encouraging."

To get a sense of the larger picture, the river will be monitored until 2015 using pre-spill particulars, many of which were collected by BC Hydro, which has an active presence on the river because of its Cheakamus dam. While the state of the salmon is a crucial indicator of the river's health, other species such as steelhead, char, sculpin and lamprey eels are also being surveyed.

To ensure a complete rehabilitation takes places, Tobe would like to see a minimum of 10 additional years given to the research, though only five more are slated.

"I think we can all agree that there has been a remarkable recovery in that time, but I don't know if we are able to say that we are at or even close to what the river was before the spill occurred," she said.

"It's very scientifically interesting and nature is very resilient and recovery isn't beyond the abilities to occur, it's definitely happening but from a habitat standpoint it's a different ecosystem than we had before the spill - but it's resilient, it's vibrant. I can't say that I see any real gaping issues."

Since 2005, CN has implemented a major overhaul of its safety and education policies, reflecting a 38 per cent reduction in main track accidents in 2008-2009.