"Committed to the recovery of wild Pacific salmon in mid Vancouver
Island watersheds through habitat restoration and community engagement"
"Committed to the restoration of wild Pacific salmon in mid Vancouver
Island watersheds through habitat restoration and community engagement"

Shelly Creek Stream Assessment and Fish Habitat Survey Report

Beginning in the summer of 2014, our members began a systematic study of the creek’s physical and biological features, using a method developed by the Government of BC called the Urban Salmon Habitat Program. In 2015, we completed the survey in the upper reaches of the creek (above Highway 19). With up to 20 members contributing hundreds of hours measuring habitats in conditions that resembled a jungle, we now had a better idea of what was happening to Shelly Creek. 
salmon8Two of the major findings of the study were:
1. The creek’s pools between Blower Road and Wildgreen Way have been filled in with sediments as a result of erosion of the creek’s stream banks from high (winter) flows.

2. Much of the 2 km of creek above Highway 19 has been excavated. This has resulted in significant changes to the natural hydrology of the watershed. Click here to read the  complete report, Shelly Creek Stream Assessment and Fish Habitat Survey Report-2014 and 2015.

 

In an effort to understand how these changes to the stream’s hydrology can be modified to improve the stability of the creek, and hence the water quality, MVIHES hired one of British Columbia’s experts on water engineering, Jim Dumont, P.Eng., to study the creek and provide us with a report. The report is complete and is titled: Shelly Creek Water Balance and Sediment Reduction Plan, Technical Summary.