| Abstract/Description or Keywords |
Water flows in the Somass Basin support wild and cultured salmon populations and associated fisheries as well as hydropower generation, and community water use. Flows are regulated by dams, some of them aging and requiring modernization, constructed at several locations in the system to meet the needs of industry, fish, and flood control. Management of in-stream flows and lake levels by these structures is inextricably linked to the continuation of diverse and highly valuable fish stocks and fisheries. In the last two decades, five significant summer droughts and related warm water events have resulted in major sockeye losses in the basin, and climate change projections suggest such events will be more frequent and more intense in future. In 2007 Living Rivers - Georgia Basin/Vancouver Island and the BC Conservation Foundation - in partnership with basin stakeholders - initiated development of a Somass Basin Watershed Management Plan (SBWMP) to address climate change and other issues. In 2010 the project partners identified four possible adaptation strategies: 1. Reduce fishing quotas early in the season when water is cooler; 2. Reduce existing migration bottlenecks within the Somass system; 3. Install new cold water release infrastructure at existing dams; and 4. Improve water quality at the mouth of the Somass River. Project partners undertook studies to increase knowledge of climate change impacts on fish and to explore the identified adaptation strategies. The SBWMP is a living document designed to be updated and implemented over time. It identifies cold water release as the most important adaptation strategy. Barriers to implementation include uncertainty regarding dam ownership, high implementation costs, and lack of jurisdictional responsibility. Project partners will work to address these barriers and to implement other, shorter term adaptation actions as resources become available. The project received funding from Natural Resources Canada's Regional Adaptation Collaborative (RAC) program, managed in British Columbia by the Fraser Basin Council and the B.C. Ministry of Environment, and involving almost 50 regional partners. This project was also co-funded by Living Rivers-Georgia Basin/Vancouver Island (2006-11), a program of the BC Living Rivers Trust Fund. |
