Researchers in B.C. to map landslides in Fraser River, help protect salmon
British Columbia geoscientists are returning to the scene of a massive landslide on the Fraser River to map its effects and assess the risk of future slides on salmon.
The landslide in November 2018 created a five-metre waterfall on the river north of Lillooet, and made it nearly impossible for migrating salmon to reach their spawning grounds.
Jeremy Venditti, principal investigator on the project, said his team of scientists will map the topography in the area using a laser to identify between 20 and 100 possible slide sites along the river.
“We're looking for sites that might be sort of an imminent threat, or where an imminent slide may happen, and then we'll also be identifying locations where they could happen,” he said in an interview Thursday.
Venditti said his team set up a field site on the same location of the 2018 slide almost a decade before that, so they'll be able to compare their findings with the 2009 data to see how the slide changed the river and how to better predict these events.
“We felt that, as geoscientists, it was time for us to go and begin investigating where in the Fraser other landslides have happened in the past, but also (where they) will happen in the future, and the effects that they have on flow in the river, fish migration and the genetics of Fraser salmon, which we think have probably been impacted now a number of times by landslides.”
Venditti said they'll share the information with the Fisheries Department and First Nations communities, so they can prepare for potential slides and make plans to protect the salmon.
He said possible mitigation could include engineering solutions like building fishways that can help salmon get past blocked passages.
The Fisheries Department said that 85,000 cubic metres of rock fell into the river, stopping many salmon runs from migrating.
After the remote slide was discovered, fish were transported past the site using helicopters, trucks and a so-called salmon cannon until a fish ladder was built, although the department said in July that it was still looking for a more permanent solution.
The department has said the slide is a major factor in some of the worst salmon returns on record in the Fraser River.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 12, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.