Noble Watershed

Improvement Project Interim Report Regarding Noble Creek Salmon Habitat

October, 2000

Submitted to: South Islands Aquatic Stewardship Society

Submitted by: Kevin Jancowski, Coastal Enterprise and Resource Cooperative Association

Progress Report

The Noble Creek Salmon Habitat Improvement Project is nearly complete having started in the week of August 27, 2000. Placement of spawning and rearing substrate in upper Noble Creek, removal of silt from McHugh Ditch, creation of a cattle watering station, and addition of large woody debris to upper Noble Creek has been completed. The completed work will be monitored over the winter to gauge its success.

In the last week of August, approximately 9.2 cubic metres (12 cubic yards) of small boulders were delivered to upper Noble Creek for the purpose of creating gravel catchment weirs and boulder clusters. Noble Creek has undergone dredging or channelization in its upper stretch in the past resulting in the removal of instream structure. Nine rock weirs of variable size were placed into upper Noble Creek upstream and downstream of Hunt Road in the District of Saanich. The boulders were selected such that they were larger than required to remain stationary under bankfull flows. In addition, small clusters of these boulders were placed downstream of the weirs to provide rearing habitat for juvenile salmonids.

The next additions to upper Noble Creek were two size classes of spawning gravel. Five loads of 4" minus gravel totaling about 46 cubic metres (60 cubic yards) were distributed along about 539 m of stream channel upstream and downstream of Hunt Road. The gravel was shot into the stream by means of a gravel slinger which drove close to the edge of the stream and dropped gravel throughout much of the stream section, particularly immediately upstream of the boulder weirs to form stable spawning beds. Following this placement, about 24 cubic yards of approximately 1.5 " gravel was placed in the stream section using the same technique but placing most of it immediately upstream of the weirs. It was felt that the diversity of gravel sizes would better suit the spawning needs of anadromous salmonids considered formerly native to Noble Creek: coho salmon (reintroduced from hatchery stock) and cutthroat trout. All gravel placements were completed on September 15, 2000.

Simultaneous with the boulder and gravel placements was the monitoring of the removal of fine organic and inorganic material from the stream channel of McHugh Ditch. This project was carried out by the Corporation of the District of Saanich to improve drainage of Martindale Flats agricultural land. CERCA, through consultation with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, local landowners, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Foods, the Corporation of the District of Saanich, and Habitat Steward Dave Tattam, monitored the drainage work to prevent negative effects on salmonid habitat within the Noble Creek system. CERCA installed a sediment barrier of straw bales and filter cloth downstream of the work in McHugh Ditch to catch the sediment created by upstream work. Saanich contracted Ken's Septic to vacuum much of the silt considered a problem for agricultural drainage and of no value to a salmon habitat. CERCA and Saanich pruned riparian vegetation to allow suction hose access to the stream while maintaining the riparian canopy cover. The results of the sediment removal project included a reduction of silt both in McHugh Ditch and consequently Noble Creek. This project ended in the week of September 15, 2000.

The final two components of the project occurred in the weeks of September 10 and 17, 2000. The first component consisted of the construction of a cattle watering station upstream of Hunt Road. This station is designed to allow the landowner's cattle to reach Noble Creek water without damaging the stream channel and silting the water downstream. CERCA used page and barbed wire fencing to enclose a firmly packed gravel bank suited for cattle access to Noble Creek. Using a contracted backhoe, CERCA created a gently sloping, gravel-lined watering site for cattle to access Noble Creek while minimizing damage to fish habitat. Both the landowner and Dave Tattam were pleased with the cattle watering site that took both agricultural and fisheries values into consideration.

In order to improve summer and winter rearing habitat for juvenile fish in upper Noble Creek, 7 tree roots from Douglas fir or western red cedar were delivered from a disposal site for use as large organic debris. All of this LOD was secured in place in order to prevent potential flow blockages at either of two culverts in the system. Three pieces of LOD were placed in the mainstem of Noble Creek, three were placed adjacent to the cattle watering station where coho salmon fry were found to overwinter in 2000, and one piece was placed into a small off-channel pond downstream of Hunt Road. All instream work was completed within one week of the instream work window cutoff of September 15.