A proposed run-of-river hydro project near Cultus Lake is threatening the rare coastal giant salamander in its only Canadian stronghold, a BCIT biologist and fish-and-wildlife instructor warns.
The coastal giant salamander may be the strangest-looking creature you will never see, a reclusive species found in Canada only in the shaded forests and cool streams of the Chilliwack River Valley.
BCIT’s Marvin Rosenau warns in a letter to the Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations that the project will cause “extensive damage” to the salamanders, which can measure to 35 centimetres. The project will divert water from salamander habitat to be run through a powerhouse.
Rosenau noted the project will “dewater” the stream to less than 10 per cent of the average-yearly discharge, and reduce invertebrate habitat by more than 50 per cent. “Insects need water just like fish and salamanders do, and they will lose much of their good rearing habitat,” he said.
He also believes that environmental studies put forward by the proponent are inadequate, minimizing impact on the salamanders and potentially underestimating the population in the development area.
The salamander is federally listed as threatened under the Species At Risk Act, and is provincially red-listed due in large part to shrinking habitat. The coastal tailed frog, a provincial blue-listed species of special concern, also inhabits the area of the planned hydro project.
The run-of-the-river proposal has a “number of deficiencies, questions, errors and omissions and misrepresentations in respect to the facts at hand,” Rosenau writes.
“Because small streams such as Frosst Creek are so fragile, the project has, at face value, the potential to consigning one or both of the at-risk amphibian species to extirpation.”
Zella Hydro spokesperson Hannah Holden said in response that the specific company proposal is not set in stone and that comments by Rosenau, the province and the public will be considered in terms of potential modifications. “We are in the process of receiving and reviewing feedback,” she said.
Holden added that Rosenau’s specific criticism “warrants significant review and consideration” and that the company expects to respond in about a month.
Greig Bethel, spokesman for the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, confirmed the Frosst Creek proposal is under review by the ministry and that meetings are planned with the proponent this month.
Zella Hydro is proposing a four-megawatt hydro project on Frosst Creek, about five kilometres southwest of Cultus Lake near the community of Lindell Beach. The company says the intake weir will be located at an elevation of about 640 metres. A portion of the flow from Frosst Creek will be diverted into a penstock and run downhill for about 2.3 kilometres to a powerhouse before being returned to the creek.
Three years of studies on Frosst Creek indicate that there are no fish present within the reach of Frosst Creek between the intake and the tailrace — the diversion reach — the company said. Several species are found downstream, including coho, chinook, chum and sockeye salmon, along with coastal cutthroat and rainbow trout, Dolly Varden and bull trout, mountain whitefish, northern pike minnow and sculpin.
Rosenau noted that the diversion reach would reduce invertebrates for fish downstream to eat. Elsewhere in B.C., rapid fluctuations of water from run-of-river hydro projects have also left juvenile fish stranded downstream.
The company noted its project would connect with local power lines to avoid the construction of new transmission lines and reduce its development footprint.
Coastal giant salamander: Five things
• One of the largest semi-aquatic salamanders in the U.S. and Canada. Terrestrial adults can reach a total length of 34 centimetres, while aquatic adults (neotenes) can reach up to 35 cm. They’re found in a variety of habitats, but most live in the forest near cool, clear, mountain streams. Mature and old-growth forests with plenty of litter, downed wood and talus are preferred habitats.
• A high proportion of the adults within a coastal giant population are neotenic. On average, they take two to four years to reach sexual maturity, but B.C. populations may take six or more years. Data on other similar large, aquatic salamanders suggest that they may live up to 25 years.
• Coastal giants have powerful jaws and are voracious eaters. They feed on insects, slugs, snails, worms, shrews, mice and amphibians. They’re preyed on by salmon, garter snakes, water shrews, river otters, raccoons, weasels and other coastal giant salamanders.
• Coastal giants occur from extreme southwestern B.C. (in the Chilliwack Valley area — their only presence in Canada) to northern California, from sea level to about 1,000 metres above sea level, although some have been found as high as 2,160 metres.’
• In B.C., coastal giants are active from spring through fall, becoming dormant in winter. However, the terrestrial forms are hard to find, even in prime habitat, because they spend much of the active season in burrows or hidden under debris. Most of their above-ground activity occurs at night, especially warm nights with rainfall.
Source: Government of British Columbia
Related
