The city of Coquitlam's first plan to prevent its most populated watershed from deteriorating is underway - nearly six years after it started.
The draft Scott Creek Integrated Watershed Management Plan, which was introduced to the city's engineering committee last week, shows a number of "fixes" to the watershed that's rated as one of the sickest by Metro Vancouver standards.
To better its health, the city plans to take on a $6.5-million project to upgrade the watershed's stormwater management and environmental measures to contain urban run-off pollution, to control erosions and sedimentation and to help stream base flows.
Without the work, "further degradation from new development can be expected," Bill Susak, Coquitlam's general manager of engineering and public works, warned in his recent report to council.
Niall Williams, Scott Creek/Hoy Creek hatchery manager, told The Tri-City News this week the watershed has been poor for years in the lower sections - a comment also raised by land use committee chair Coun. Mae Reid at last week's engineering meeting.
More water needs to get back into the creeks, they said.
"At present, a large proportion of the water is diverted into the Coquitlam River via two large stormwater culverts, one of which enters Lafarge Lake," Williams said. "This water is needed in Hoy and Scott creeks to dilute the pollution effects caused by the high-density developments in the Town Centre area."
As well, he said, Coho salmon find it hard to swim the creeks with so many barriers in their way. Besides weeding out invasive plants, Williams said his volunteer group has put in large sand filters, UV sterilizers and activated carbon filters to remove pollution. As a result, fish mortalities "have decreased enormously" over the past few years.
Dana Soong, Coquitlam's manager of utility operations, said work on the watershed plan was put on hold in 2008 while the city developed its on-site rainwater management strategy, aimed at protecting homes from flooding while preserving the area's natural hydrology (that strategy is also in the recently adopted Partington Creek Integrated Watershed Management Plan for the new Burke Mountain neighbourhood).
Soong said a number of stakeholders such as Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Urban Development Institute have already reviewed the draft plan.
The Scott Creek watershed - a residential area that saw development start more than 25 years ago - is about 1,950 hectares and spans from Port Moody to Pinetree Way, and Como Lake Avenue to the top of Westwood Plateau.
Copies of the draft Scott Creek Integrated Management Plan will be available for public viewing starting next week at Coquitlam Public Library branches. A public open house on the draft watershed plan is set to be held this fall before council considers it.
