| Abstract/Description or Keywords |
Twig Creek is a tributary to the Salmon River upstream of Westwold, BC with a watershed area of approximately 4,300 ha. Steep confined lower channel reaches leading up to a broad elongated mainstem valley dominated by marshlands and beaver ponds characterize the lower and middle watershed area [Map - Appendix A]. Tributaries to the mainstem and marshland area include Jupiter Creek entering from the southeast, and a larger un-named system entering from the northwest, defined as Upper Twig Creek for this review. Early harvesting in the Twig watershed was confined to Interior Douglas Fir stands on lower slopes adjacent to the Salmon River. More recent development began in the mid-1980's with greenwood harvesting located throughout the middle and upper watershed area. Since the mid-1990's beetle salvage activity has dominated forest development plans focused mainly on middle elevation pine stands on both the southeast and northwest sides of the elongated mainstem valley. Considerable salvage activity is planned in the current FDP in addition to some greenwood development. In 1998 Forsite Consultants Ltd completed an Integrated Watershed Restoration Plan (IWRP) on the entire Salmon River watershed . The IWRP included an Interior Watershed Assessment Procedure (IWAP), Sediment Source Survey (SSS), Channel Assessment Procedure (CAP) and Access Management Plan (AMP). Site-specific sediment source and channel stability issues were identified in the Twig watershed and risk rated for the purpose of directing follow-up restoration and rehabilitation work. It is important to note that the IWRP process was designed to identify past forest development related disturbance in a watershed or other identified area and make recommendations for remedial action. The IWRP process and component parts are not intended nor designed to comment on or direct future forest development activity (i.e. they are not forward-looking exercises). It is also important to note that RFPL had concerns with the IWRP identification of past forest development related effects on the Salmon River watershed, generally, and in particular the standards by which risk priority ratings were derived and the implied cause and effect relationship between noted areas of concern and past harvesting and road construction activity . These concerns lead to few if any restoration prescriptions being developed for IWRP priority sites in the Twig watershed. In short, priority demands on Watershed Restoration Program (WRP) funds were determined to be higher in other areas of the Salmon River watershed or elsewhere within the RFPL operating area. With resource agency concerns in mind regarding IWRP priorities and planned forest development activity, the objective of this report is to answer the following questions: 1) What were the results and recommendations of the various component assessments within the IWRP, and can they be used to help define the current condition of the watershed and/or help guide future forest development and restoration planning in Twig Creek? 2) Where are the IWRP priority sites, what effect have they had on the condition of the watershed, and what restorative measures might be required to mitigate detrimental effects? 3) What is the current condition of the watershed with respect to water quality, water quantity and the cumulative effects of past forest development on Twig Creek and the larger Salmon River? 4) What are the anticipated effects of planned forest development and what recommendations can be provided to mitigate potential detrimental effects on the water resource? |
