| Abstract/Description or Keywords |
Candle Creek drains approximately 40 square kilometres of mostly forested terrain into the Clearwater River near its confluence with the North Thompson River. Lower portions of the drainage area are included within the boundaries of the town of Clearwater, British Columbia. Forest resources in the upper watershed are managed by the Slocan Forest Products Ltd., Vavenby Division (Slocan) and by the Small Business Forestry Enterprise Program (SBFEP) of the Ministry of Forests, Clearwater District (MOF). Several licensed water users divert flows from Candle Creek for domestic and irrigation purposes. In November 1997, watershed assessments were conducted throughout the Clearwater Forest District according to the Interior Watershed Assessment Procedure (IWAP), September 1995 version. Candle Creek was assessed as part of a face unit, which encompassed Candle Creek, School Creek and Sands Creek. Results from this analysis identified potential high hazard ratings related to peak flow alteration and surface erosion. The report also suggested that these hazard ratings were not definitive as the study area was not a true watershed. In August of 1999, Silvatech Consulting Ltd. (Silvatech) submitted to the SBFEP an updated IWAP for the School Creek (true) watershed using revised (April 1999) methods. This report found few problems of significance in the School Creek portion of the face unit. Based on the results of these previous studies, Silvatech Consulting Ltd. (Silvatech) was retained by Slocan to complete several more detailed assessments of the Candle Creek (true) watershed in the Fall of 2001. The assessments were undertaken according to the terms expressed within Contract No. WRP-01SFP-03. Assessments undertaken included channel condition assessments, a brief outline of resource use in the watershed, a review of current harvesting levels (Equivalent Clearcut Area [ECA]) and an erosion and mass wasting assessment (EMRA). With Slocan acting as lead proponent, funding for the project was made available through the Watershed Restoration Program (WRP) of Forest Renewal BC. In February of 2002, a draft copy of this report was made available for review by Slocan, and local representatives of MOF, Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). On May 7th, 2002, a meeting was held at the MOF offices in Clearwater during which the results and recommendations of this report were discussed. A summary of that meeting, including recommendations for future management of resources within the Candle Creek watershed is provided in Appendix A. watershed assessment, watershed management, erosion |
