Joseph Creek Restoration

G.G. Oliver and Associates
$10,400
Cranbrook, BC

The Joseph Creek Restoration Project has been ongoing since 2000 and is intended to provide a strategy towards cutthroat trout recovery in the lower Joseph Creek watershed and , ultimately to improve juvenile recruitment to the St. Mary River. Joseph Creek is also the community water supply for the City of Cranbrook and the watershed supports a number of water licenses for both domestic and irrigation use. In short, Joseph Creek is a highly regulated watershed and the pattern of downstream release no longer resembles the natural hydrologic cycle. Competing uses for the available water supply, particularly in low-runoff years have not been compatible with ecosystem needs and hence, downstream flows for fish have often been inadequate.

To this end, water quantity, water quality and fish passage remain critical issues that require future resolve if a recovery plan for cutthroat trout is to be successful. Studies completed to date suggest that cutthroat trout are in serious decline; their present low abundance has been attributed to poor habitat quality, insufficient habitat availability and a low competitive advantage with exotic species under a degraded habitat condition. Reestablishment of a natural flow regime that provides fish passage and channel maintenance functions in spring as well as a minimum flow standard in summer has been recommended to promote cutthroat trout recovery. Although cutthroat trout are the primary target for recovery, long-term ecosystem improvements are also expected to benefit bull trout which have been displaced from the lower watershed due to current temperature extremes.

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