Climate change impacts in the Powell River area will result in longer, dryer and hotter summers and warmer and wetter winters with an increased number of storms creating floods, according to a report prepared for the Theodosia Stewardship Roundtable.
A summary of the report was one of the presentations at a roundtable open house held recently at Powell River Recreation Complex. The roundtable is a Tla’amin (Sliammon) First Nation initiative. The open house included a performance by the Cheechlem Chi Chia dancers, refreshments featuring local food and displays by members of the roundtable. Erik Blaney, roundtable chair, was the emcee of the evening.
Theodosia (Toh know-non) Inlet in Desolation Sound is an area of great importance to Tla’amin’s culture and history. The Theodosia River was one of the most productive salmon rivers within Tla’amin’s traditional territory. Fish stocks in Theodosia have been depleted since 1956, when MacMillan Bloedel built a concrete dam to divert 80 per cent of the river’s water to Powell Lake in order to generate power for the paper mill. This diversion greatly reduced downstream flow and caused damage to fish habitat.
As well, over half of the basin area has been logged at least once. Past logging practices have damaged fish habitat, as well as caused massive landslides.
Al Lill of Living Rivers presented information from the report, Theodosia Watershed Climate Change Impacts and Adaptations Plan by Patrick Little.
Increased carbon dioxide concentration in the earth’s atmosphere is resulting in several changes to the climate and hydrology of the Theodosia watershed, according to the report. Summers are projected to become dryer and hotter with more frequent heat waves and increased year-to-year variability compared to historical levels. Winters will likely be warmer and wetter. Large and frequent winter rainstorms and a large decrease in snowfall at all elevations in the watershed should be expected.
Reduced snowfall, decreased summer precipitation and increased temperatures will likely result in lower summer/fall stream flows and more extreme low flow periods. There will also likely be increased frequency and magnitude of fall and winter flood events. Increased stream temperature at all times of year should also be expected.
The report recommends a number of adaptation strategies to increase the resilience of ecosystems in the watershed, including the development of a water use plan for the diversion.
The full report is available online under “Public” and “Theodosia.” A 20-minute video is available at www.youtube.com by searching keywords Theodosia River climate change.
As a spin-off of the roundtable, Tla’amin has been doing a Powell Lake sockeye study, explained Blaney. “Tees-Kwat at one time had such a large salmon run that our main village site was placed at the mouth of the river,” he said.
When the Powell River Company built a dam on Powell River in 1910, salmon were cut off. But there are kokanee in Powell Lake, Blaney said, which he described as ancient sockeye that are landlocked. “They have been reproducing in the lake for the last 100 years,” he said.
Dr. Elmar Plate, of LGL Limited, environmental research associates, outlined the study parameters, which included temperature and nutrient levels in the lake. He said it would be possible to reintroduce sockeye to the lake and the roundtable will be exploring options in the future.
