Province Designates 15 Sensitive Streams

LANGLEY – The province has designated 15 sensitive streams to protect endangered fish stocks and enhance agricultural water management, Environment, Lands and Parks Minister Joan Sawicki and Agriculture, Food and Fisheries Minister Corky Evans announced today.

"Sensitive-stream designation provides a focus for future water-use planning that will protect and restore threatened fish populations," said Sawicki. "By designating these streams we will also establish recovery plans to increase certainty for the agricultural community and all other water users."

"We are designating sensitive streams as part of a larger provincial strategy to enhance the sustainability of our fish and the jobs and communities that rely upon them, while taking into account the needs of other industries like agriculture," said Evans.

On sensitive streams, water-use managers must consider the needs of fish when assessing any new application for a water-use licence approval or an amendment to an existing licence.

The first designated sensitive streams are:

• Lower Mainland: Chapman Creek, Kanaka Creek (pilot program), Lang Creek, Nathan Creek, Silverdale Creek, West Creek and Whonnock Creek.
• Vancouver Island: Black Creek (pilot program), Englishman River, French Creek, Fulford Creek, Goldstream River, Little Qualicum River and Little River.
• Omineca-Peace: Salmon River.

"The B.C. Agriculture Council and the provincial government have recently agreed on a set of principles that will help to make sure that the needs of agricultural producers are addressed in the development and implementation of sensitive-stream recovery plans," said council president Bruce Bakker.

"Sensitive-stream designation will do much to ensure water flows for fish," said Mark Angelo, chair of the Canadian and BC Heritage Rivers boards. "This first group of rivers sets a good starting point for the designation of other rivers around the province."

Beginning later this year, more streams will be identified and submitted for designation. It is estimated that there are as many as 200 streams where low flows are a serious concern – roughly one per cent of the province's streams.

The current sensitive streams were designated following extensive consultations with local governments, First Nations, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the agricultural community and other stakeholders.

Sensitive streams are designated under the Fish Protection Act, which includes a variety of mechanisms to restore and enhance fish populations. Among these is a requirement to develop stream recovery plans to establish and protect sustainable water-flow levels.

Beginning this year, two pilot programs will be run to test and refine the recovery planning process. These will be on Black Creek on Vancouver Island and Kanaka Creek on the Lower Mainland. A community-based process to do recovery planning is now under way.

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