The Nicola River will have a stretch of its riverbank stabilized this winter, correcting a problem which is said to be the biggest one currently facing the river.
Under the second round of the Recreational Fisheries Conservation Partnerships Program, the Steelhead Society of B.C. received $55,000 from the federal government to reinforce a portion of eroding riverbank along the Nicola River between Merritt and Nicola Lake.
The funding will cover 50 per cent of the cost to repair the bank.
The reinforcement is intended to stop large volumes of sediment entering the river and degrading fish habitat.
Brian Braidwood, president of the Steelhead Society, said as far as habitat projects are concerned, this is the biggest problem currently facing the Nicola River water system.
Braidwood said this project will affect about 30 kilometres of the river impacted by the siltation.
He said stabilization will involve placing large rock structures to divert water from eroding the embankment.
He said this particular restoration project is the biggest one the society has funded in the past 10 years.
“It’s a bank that’s basically causing huge siltation in the Nicola [River],” Braidwood said, noting that process makes spawning difficult.
“Sand and silt and stuff is not a fish’s friend. It’ll cover the gravel, they won’t spawn there, [it] smothers out oxygen to eggs,” Braidwood said.
He said most of the work along the bank will be done during the winter as water levels are low.
Braidwood said this particular problem is a man-made one that has existed for about a decade.
The Recreational Fisheries Conservation Partnerships Program was announced in the 2013 Economic Action Plan to support fisheries habitat restoration projects led by recreational fishing and angling groups, as well as conservation organizations, a National Conservation Plan press release stated.
The Steelhead Society of B.C. is a charitable, non-profit river conservation organization based out of Coquitlam.
Braidwood said the society identifies fish habitat problems and tries to raise funds to support restoration projects.
“We applied for the funding for this project, we were lucky enough to get the funding and then be able to make the project happen,” Braidwood said.
Recreational Fisheries Conservation Partnerships Program has invested almost $6 million under round one of funding in 94 fisheries habitat restoration projects across Canada. Another 128 projects under round two are receiving up to $5.5 million, and most recently, over 80 projects are eligible for funding under round three.
Details about the program can be found on the website www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca.
Round four of funding is accepting applications until Dec. 12.
