| Abstract/Description or Keywords |
Forsite Consultants Ltd. (Forsite) was contracted to carry out a stream channel stability assessment of the Salmon River watershed under the Integrated Watershed Restoration Program Contract (IWRP) # T096140 (97-01) of which Riverside Forest Products, Ltd. Armstrong Division (Riverside) was the lead proponent. The Salmon River watershed is 1,493 square kilometers in size with over 150 kilometers of mainstem channel. The headwaters of Salmon River are located in the vicinity of Tahaaetkun and Bouleau mountains, south of Westwold and northeast of Merritt. The River drains into Shuswap Lake at Salmon Arm. The Salmon River valley was cleared for agriculture in the early nineteen hundreds and is an important spawning area for pacific Salmon. Species that are present in the watershed include Chinook, Coho, Sockeye and Rainbow Trout. Sockeye were once abundant in the watershed prior to the Hells Gate slide and are now considered extinct except for stray spawning pairs from the nearby Adams River. Numerous studies have been carried out within the watershed from 1950 until present. The majority of the studies concentrated on the Salmon spawning habitat within the mainstem Salmon River downstream of Falkland. The studies document deteriorating fish habitat within the Salmon River. The Salmon River Watershed Roundtable (SRWR) was formed in 1994 to address the issue ofthe deteriorating habitat within the Salmon River. The SRWR is a community based committee that involves local landowners to protect and enhance the Salmon River watershed. channel, watershed assessment, erosion, sediment |
