The Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program (FWCP) is donating about $415,000 to the Squamish River Watershed Society to help the organization with continued estuary recovery.
In a news release, the FWCP said this funding helps complete the removal of the Squamish River Spit, or training berm, which is nearing completion.
With this added funding, the FWCP will have given a total of $1.9 million to the society since 2017.
The Spit deconstruction aims to restore estuary habitat, particularly for fish. The goal is for the restored area to help build back up dramatically declining south coastal chinook salmon stocks.
“The training berm in the Squamish River estuary has impacted salmon habitat and limited the rearing life stage of chinook for decades,” said Julie Fournier, the coastal region manager for the FWCP, in the release.
“Our support for the berm modification project demonstrates our commitment to enhancing valuable fish habitat in watersheds impacted by BC Hydro dams.”
In Squamish, water is released from the BC Hydro Daisy Lake Dam down the Cheakamus River to its confluence with the Squamish River, or the water is
diverted through a tunnel that runs through Cloudburst Mountain to the Cheakamus Generating Station on the Squamish River.
This Spit deconstruction is not the only project to receive funding from FWCP.
The program will spend $2.4 million on 28 projects in the upcoming year and has approved about $10.5 million in spending for 90 projects in a few regions.
The FWCP is a partnership between the province, BC Hydro, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and First Nations to conserve and enhance fish and wildlife impacted by BC Hydro dams.
To learn more about the ongoing projects, visit FWCP.ca/ProjectLists.
