| Abstract/Description or Keywords |
Along its 462 km length, the proposed KSL Pipeline Looping Project route crosses 497 watercourses; of these, 143 crossings have been classified as fish-bearing and 354 classified as non-fish bearing. The total of fish-bearing watercourses includes 34 watercourses that have had their status defaulted to fish-bearing, pending further investigation in 2007. Of the fish-bearing watercourses that have been investigated in the field, 14 are classified as S1, 34 classified as S2, 50 classified as S3 and six classified as S4. Five watercourses classified as wetlands also supported fishes. All watercourse crossings investigated were assigned a sensitivity rating. This rating takes into account fish presence or absence, the diversity of fish species present and their life-history stages, average riverine habitat potential to support fish at the time of sampling, and the potential for this habitat to support fishes at other times. From the total of 497 watercourses, 54 were assigned a “High” sensitivity rating, 42 a “Moderate” rating, 371 assigned a “Low” sensitivity and 92 assigned “None” -or having no sensitivity. The total number of watercourses yet to be assigned a sensitivity rating is 30. In total, 32 different fish species were captured along the KSL Pipeline Looping Project route between KP 0 and KP 462.2. This included 10 of the 16 fish species identified as Valued Ecosystem Components (VEC’s) in the Draft Terms of Reference. No SARA, COSEWIC or provincially “Red” listed species were found in any of the watercourses sampled. Dolly Varden and bull trout were the only provincially “Blue” listed species sampled, with Dolly Varden present in 26 of the watercourses sampled, and bull trout present in only three of the watercourses. The Interior Fraser population of coho salmon is listed by COSEWIC as “Endangered”, however no coho from this population were sampled within watercourses along the KSL Project route proposed. The Nechako River population of white sturgeon (including the Stuart watershed) is also listed by COSEWIC and as of recently SARA as endangered. There is no crossing of the Nechako River proposed and no individuals were sampled in tributaries of the Nechako River. |
