Three prominent B.C. fish and habitat biologists are calling on government to halt gravel extraction and processing they link to decimated, and declining chum and coho production in six creeks connected to Nicomen Slough east of Mission.
In a letter to Premier David Eby, 11 key cabinet ministers, and the federal minister of fisheries, John Werring (formerly with the David Suzuki Foundation), ecological consultant Mike Pearson, and retired DFO habitat restoration officer Matt Foy are lobbying for immediate action.
"Most of these salmon-rich streams lost their groundwater when gravel extraction in Norrish Creek lowered the water table. These creeks are now struggling to support spawning returns that would collectively numbered 20,000 each fall; their salmon almost extirpated. We are requesting the executive committee of the B.C. legislature – exercising section 4 of the Environment and Land Use Act – order all (mining) activities be halted, and no new gravel mines are approved within the Norrish Creek watershed before an independent hydrological produce a plan 'to best manage water use throughout the watershed'.”
Streams named include Chilqua Slough, Hawkins, Inch, Railroad, Barnes and Worth Creek where, in December 2024, I discovered hundreds of spawned salmon on bone-dry gravel.
Werring would later conclude that the eggs – deprived of groundwater were dead.
“These streams,” the letter explains, “are drying up, salmon are dying before they can spawn, eggs successfully spawned are dying.”
The importance of groundwater from the Norrish Creek aquifer was confirmed in March 2022, by Piteau and Associates – a qualified environmental agency commissioned by the DFO “to assess groundwater to marshlands and streams.”
It concluded that “following a lowering of the water level in Norrish Creek caused by the removal of gravel, the flow from Norrish Creek during high water conditions ceased. Therefore, groundwater became the primary source of flow in that creek.”
Collectively, Foy, Werring, and Pearson have 100 years of experience in fish and habitat protection and restoration. In the 1980s, Foy participated in an extensive and successful restoration and enhancement program in several streams named. As a result, thousands of spawners returned to them.
Gravel removal by the Canadian Pacific Railroad and BC Ministry of Highways has been officially permitted during the past 40 years, to protect two bridges that span Norrish Creek. “But” said the biologists, “over the past five years, the sheer magnitude of aggregate removal appears to have gone way beyond bridge and flood protection to something driven by economics.”
As a result, they say “streambed elevations have dropped so much it is drawing down the water table to the point that local fish habitats are declining rapidly.”
More planned gravel mining in the Norrish Creek area threatens salmon survival.
“There is a second gravel mine and rock quarry for the east side of Norrish Creek (B.C. mines file number, 2000194). Public inquiries are directed to the Leq’a:mel land and resources office. It’s within their hereditary territory. I’ve asked repeatedly for a positional statement.
The biologists warn it “could further affect salmon in an unnamed creek that feeds into Worth Creek, Worth Creek, and Railroad Creek, and adversely affect rare and threatened red tailed frogs, barn and spotted owls.
This proposal is currently under review by the B.C. Ministry of Mines and Critical Minerals.
The letter, which I’ve also signed, concludes that “there is urgency to our request,” because the DFO is renegotiating an agreement with CPKCR to continue its permitted extractions. If common sense is to prevail, DFO would not allow mining of rivers for gravel unless for public safety or flood mitigation.
"We need leadership on this at the highest level!”
– Jack Emberly is a retired teacher, local author and environmentalist
