• The Sheemahant River is an important spawning area to Reach 7 (lower 20 km), particularly for sockeye salmon. Chinook, coho, pink and chum salmon, are also present, as well as Dolly Varden, rainbow and cutthroat trout. Most of the knowledge of these populations is derived from annual sockeye spawner counts conducted by DFO, when incidental fish observations are made. Sockeye do not migrate beyond the 20 km cascades; however, coho and Dolly Varden have been recorded into the glacial headwaters.

• Logging activities are ongoing in this watershed. For the purposes of this study, old cut blocks of interest are concentrated in reach 6 and downstream. The mainstem access roads on both banks spawn large wetland habitats and may have contributed to isolation, or destruction of these off-channel habitats. On the right bank, the west main road has not been properly deactivated and there is evidence of upslope instability in some areas.

• Field studies should focus on establishing the degree of fish access into wetted areas behind the mainlines, and establishing the quality of that habitat. Tributary rehabilitation and upslope stability will be noted in connection with this. Off-channel habitats will be walked as extensively as possible. The mainstem Sheemahant will not be a focus for this study, due to its size and flood-prone nature.

Special thanks are due to Ardice Neudorf, Naomi Tabata and the other staff at Madrone Consultants Ltd. who conducted the background research and initial overview assessment. Bob Brand and Bill Dwyer of Western Forest Products in Ladysmith, Percy Walkus of the Oweekeno Nation, as well as Mike Parker and Troy Larden of the Ministry of Environment, Land and Parks in Williams Lake, all participated in ensuring that this project was properly initiated and brought to its conclusion. Their encouragement and direction is appreciated.

5.1 Watershed Characteristics

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At the request of Pacific Forest Products, Forest Renewal B.C. has provided funding to undertake an Overview and Level I Fish Habitat Assessment on the Sheemahant River. With the cooperation of the Oweekeno Nation and with the technical assistance of Madrone Consultants Ltd. this work was initiated in the summer of 1997, in anticipation of field work in the fall of the same year. This document contains the results of the Overview Assessment. Results of the Level I Fish Habitat Assessment are contained in a separate report. The objectives of the overview assessment are:

• to determine what fish species (and life stages) are at risk to the imports of poor forestry practices in the watershed
• to identify areas of concern that need to be examined in quantitative field surveys of fish habitat
• to identify preliminary restoration strategies ( no action, restoration, rehabilitation, mitigation)
• where appropriate, to identify preliminary project objectives, scope and priorities.

The overview assessment uses existing or easily obtained information to provide a preliminary indication of the factors that limit fish production in the watershed. The purpose of this is to focus field assessment and preliminary restoration plans on areas where substantial benefits to the fishery resource are likely.

Methods were consistent with those described in the Watershed Restoration Program Technical Circular No. 8. Most information came from DFO, as a part of continuing salmon escapement records that have been undertaken for many years. Anecdotal information was gathered from several sources, but all had been consolidated previously into the government sources.

FISS and SISS data systems were searched in order to obtain the most recent fish distribution information, which was transposed onto 1:20,000 scale TRIM maps. Escapement information was obtained from DFO, but recent years’ data was not available for the study area. Recent (1991), colour airphotos were provided by Pacific Forest Products that covered their operating area, and other airphotos (black and white, 1979) were also made available for the headwaters and upstream tributary zones. The mainstem Sheemahant and its significant tributaries (Kull Creek, Lemolo Creek and Sumquolt Creek) were divided into reaches, which were used to describe zones of homogenous stream character.

Further information was obtained from the field data recently gathered from FHIP studies done in the Sumquolt drainage earlier in 1997, and also from WRP Fish Habitat Assessment in Lemolo Creek (1996). This information is in the draft form, and is not to be quoted without the consent of MOELP, and the author.

The Sheemahant River is characterized by shallow gradient with the predominant channel morphology type being glide. Oreographic lifting, rain on snow events and large, warm weather systems results in a dramatic rise and fall in discharge. As the system rises, wetlands surrounding the mainstem become flooded. These wetlands which also serve as catchment areas for runoff from the surrounding mountains regulate the mainstem’s discharge and sediment load.

The Sheemahant River is a glacially-fed system with high turbidity throughout most of the mainstem. This does not allow for good observation of individual fish or fish habitats. Tributaries, sidechannels and off-channel habitats where fish were visually identified, are characterized by clear water and good flow.

The Sheemahant River is found in the Coastal Western Hemlock zone which encompasses three biogeoclimatic subzones. The Central Moist Submaritime Coastal Western Hemlock Variant (CWH ms2) subzone occurs in the lower elevations (below 700m) of the Sheemahant River. At 700 to 1000m, the Montane Wet Submaritime Coastal Western Hemlock Variant (CWH ms2) occurs. The Windward Moist Maritime Mountain Hemlock Variant (Mhmm1) is found at upper elevations. In the headwaters, total snowfall is usually high, which can result in substantial snowpacks that may persist well into July. Large glaciers at the head of this drainage produce cold air that can influence the climate.

Increase in peak flows from logging related activities can increase the amount of fine sediments that are added to the mainstem. In the Sheemahant watershed, surrounding steep hills with low gradient wetlands adjacent to the mainstem could be corridors for distribution of sediment into spawning areas, and also affect woody debris and nutrient disbursement. Further studies should be initiated to determine to what degree the fish stocks of the Sheemahant River are being affected by hydrological impacts.

Rivers Inlet has been the home of important commercial fisheries, and numbers of sockeye salmon spawners have been documented by DFO for several decades. In recent years, a clear decline in the number of sockeye has been recorded, prompting increased research and attention to possible contributing factors. Initial indications are that there are complex processes at work, including the possibility of changing marine environments, and other factors well outside the watershed study areas. Although there is no clear evidence that this is the case, we are assuming that the quality and quantity of fish habitat in the Sheemahant River is part of the declining sockeye experience.

There are 4 other anadromous species recorded in the Sheemahant River. These include coho, chinook, pink and chum salmon, but not steelhead trout. Directed spawner counts have not been attempted on these species, due to the very turbid, glacial water in the mainstem making these species difficult to spot in aerial surveys. The presence of the fish is known; however, precise spawning areas, timing, population trends and factors affecting them are unknown. It is assumed that any negative effects on fish habitat on the lower mainstem would have a negative effect on all the anadromous fish present there.

Rainbow and cutthroat trout, as well as Dolly Varden, are present in the mainstem and its peripheral areas. There have been no habitat surveys, creel surveys, lake stocking or other management or enhancement activities directed on these stocks. None of these populations receive any significant harvesting activity from either sport or aboriginal fishing.

The Sheemahant River is accessible to anadromous fish to the cascades just upstream of its confluence with Lemolo Creek (about 20km). Most anadromous fish habitat is confined to the mainstem until this point. Although anadromous fish have access to at least 1 km of the lower part of Lemolo Creek (a complete barrier exists at 5 km), the fish habitat is poor and fish distribution is probably limited to spawner incursions for a short distance upstream of the confluence. The primary spawning area for anadromous fish (and probably many resident fish as well) is in Reaches 1 to 6 of the mainstem Sheemahant, where abundant gravel bars and sidechannel habitats exist. These side channels also provide slow-water backwaters, which allow for juvenile rearing, adult holding and spawning areas, and generally, refuge habitats from extreme flow events which are frequent in this system.

Tributaries to the mainstem Sheemahant River also provide some fish habitat, although this appears limited to the short confluence areas, off the side hill. These tributaries are valuable sources of clear water and some nutrients, and where they are accessible to fish, also function as refuge habitat from floods in the mainstem.

More stable in-stream habitat is provided by the tributaries far upstream, including Hilder and Marvel Creeks; however, there is a barrier further downstream on the Sumquolt Creek that seems to prohibit fish access into these areas. The upper Sheemahant River, above the Sumquolt confluence, contains attractive, low-gradient habitat and may be inhabited by coho and Dolly Varden into the extreme headwaters.

DFO notes that this barrier (at 20 km on the mainstem) is a "passable cascade"; and this is confirmed by recent field work this year indicating the presence of coho above this barrier.

The uppermost limit of fish in the mainstem Sheemahant has not been documented, and anadromous fish access should be assumed up to the lip of the glacier.

Fish habitat concerns are focused on Reaches 1 to 6, which are accessible to all salmonids. Habitat concerns in Reach 1 fall into 3 categories:

1. The west main road on the right bank has been deactivated, but may have cut off or destroyed the riparian zone of peripheral fish habitats in sidechannels and sloughs
1. The mainline road on the left bank is active and well-maintained, but has cut off access to sloughs and low-gradient fish habitat behind the road. These may provide opportunities for sidechannel development
1. Eroding banks and destruction of the riparian zone along the mainstem river, as well as tributaries crossing blocks adjacent to the mainstem.

Reach 7 and above in the mainstem do not now have any logging activities in the watershed, and so are of no interest when judging the impact of forest development activities on fish habitat. There are now road-building and harvesting activities in the lower Sumquolt drainage and there is at least one old block near the confluence with the Sheemahant. Above this point, there are no apparent concerns for fish habitat and it is inappropriate to include these areas in this report.

In order to locate impacted areas more precisely, the lower reaches have been subdivided into sections, and then ranked for field examination priority.

Sidechannel habitats that improve fish habitat have controlled flow, stabilized banks, graded gravel, LWD at strategic points, and complex in-stream habitat. Spawning channels may have upstream dams with control over the entire stream. Others have engineered flow control works off the mainstem, at the upstream end of the developed sidechannel. Others rely more on excavated areas of naturally-upwelling groundwater that appears in old flood channels adjacent to the river mainstem. The target fish species and life stages also dictate optimum flow regimes, substrate, cover pattern, etc. The most critical factor is obtaining controlled flow and in identifying the limiting factor for each fish species, so that each project is custom-designed, both in terms of hydraulic design as well as fish habitat requirements.

Earlier WRP work conducted in Lemolo Creek obtained a professional engineering opinion indicating the mainstem of the Sheemahant was too unstable to design sidechannel development works. In a practical sense, areas adjacent to the mainstem either had an unmanageable amount of material to move, or would be too flood-prone for effective flow control. Instead, the focus should be on identifying areas that are sheltered from flood events by being behind the mainline road, set back at the toe or the slope, or possibly depressions that have been isolated by large berm buildups. Biological work to identify potential fish rearing areas (current and those possibly cut off in the past) would identify where fish habitat is located now, which species inhabit those areas, and correlate fish presence with specific sidechannel conditions. This information should complement engineering studies (future work) based on airphoto interpretation to identify those areas where flow control works would be feasible to construct. This fits the requirement of a Level I Fish Habitat Assessment.

Past logging practices often did not recognize the importance of tributary streams to mainstem fish habitats, especially non-fish bearing streams. These tributaries have been damaged by logging practices through destruction of the riparian zone, bank and gully wall destabilization causing bedload movement into the mainstem habitat, and by obstruction or inundation of the confluence area, where small but important off-channel habitats exist.

Where the riparian zone has been destroyed, or the gully sidewalls destabilized, the strategy is to identify those specific areas, so that a riparian specialist team can conduct site-level surveys in the spring (future work), for streamside planting, LWD placement or other reconstruction later in the 1998 season. Where off-channel habitat has been cut off or inundated such that no re-construction is possible, a quantity and type of off-channel fish habitat will be identified for creation in another location.

This study will identify areas where eroding banks and upslope stability affect the mainstem fish habitat. This process is usually evident in the substrate material and island/channel formations downstream, and sometimes this is also correlated with a more specific loss of (for example) spawning gravel through gravel compaction, aggradation, etc. Usually, gradual, more subtle changes in channel hydraulics are noticed as the assessment crew walks upstream, and these changes should be noted in the Fish Habitat Assessment Form.

It is beyond the scope of this study to identify the causes and extent of bank and slope instability; however, the Level I FHAP can identify the specific locations where valuable fish habitat is threatened and help prioritize upslope stabilization activities, and bank stabilization projects, where advised.

The west main road network up the right bank of the Sheemahant is a case where the road deactivation may be completely suitable from an engineering viewpoint, but the fisheries effectiveness may be lacking. A field inspection of each tributary crossing will determine an appropriate course of action with reference to WRP road deactivation planning.

Field studies will focus on:

• walking creeks (one crew on each side, in the lower reaches of the mainstem) and up the immediate tributaries for short distances, to assess the quality of in-stream habitats, paying close attention to the condition of off-channel habitats, and identifying the water flow control points.
• Additional data collected will include temperature, discharge, turbidity and bank material, specifically directed at off-channel habitats.
• Reach descriptions in the mainstem will be on a subsampling basis, determined by a projected length of stream(s) to walk each day. Stream walking will record the habitat unit, chain distance, features, and habitat units. During the stream walk, a representative subsample length will be chosen for more complete measurements, according to the criteria outlined in Technical Circular No. 8.

It is proposed that field surveys focus on high and medium priority reaches and sections; however, some flexibility must be maintained to allow for variable field conditions. There should be ten (10) field days allocated to this watershed, assuming both aircraft and ground-based field support.

Britton, E.W. and D. E. Marshall. 1980. Catalogue of Salmon Streams and Spawning Escapements of Statistical Area 9 and 10 (Rivers and Smith Inlets). Canadian Data Report of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences No. 222. xvi+ 164pp.

Hillaby, J.E. and A. Neudorf, 1998 (in preparation). Sheemahant Watershed Level I Fish Habitat Assessment Volume I - Summary. Report prepared under contract to Western Forest Products and Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, Williams Lake.

Hillaby, J.E. and A. Neudorf, 1998 (in preparation). Sheemahant Watershed Level I Fish Habitat Assessment Volume II - Data Appendices. Report prepared under contract to Western Forest Products and Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, Williams Lake.

Hillaby, J.E., T. McIntosh, and J. Ebell, 1997. Lemolo Creek Watershed Fish and Riparian Habitat Assessments. Report prepared under contract to Pacific Forest Products and Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, Williams Lake. 39pp and Appendices.

J. Hillaby, 1998. (in preparation). Reconnaissance Level Fish Habitat Inventory for the Upper Machmell, Sumquolt and Phinney Creek watersheds. Report prepared under contract to Western Forest Products and Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, Williams Lake.

Johnson, N.T. and P.A. Slaney, 1996. Fish Habitat Assessment Procedures Watershed Restoration Technical Circular 8, revised April 1996. Watershed Restoration Program; Ministry of Environment, Land and Parks, and Ministry of Parks.

Larkin, G.A. and P.A. Slaney. 1996. Calibration of a Habitat Sedimentation Indicator for Use in Measuring the Effectiveness of Watershed Restoration Treatments. Province of British Columbia, Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks and Ministry of Forests. Watershed Restoration Management Report No. 5.

Pendray, T. 1988. Biophysical Inventory of Tributaries to Owikeno Lake - 1984 - 1985. Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Fisheries Branch, North Coast Division, Habitat Managmeent Unit, Prince Rupert, B.C.

SHIP Environmental Consultants. 1992. Stream Summary Catalogue for Subdistricts 9, Rivers Inlet and 10, Smith Inlet. Report prepared under contract to DFO/MOELP Fish Habitat Inventory and Information Program.

Sandy McLaurin, CID Community Advisor

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

P.O. Box 340,

Hagensborg, B.C. V0T 1H0

250-982-2663

Brad Koroluk, Habitat Technician,

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

P.O. Box 130,

Bella Coola, B.C. V0T 1C0

250-799-5729

Bob Brand, Divisional Engineer

Western Forest Products

P.O. Box 820, 100 E. Ludlow

Ladysmith, B.C. V0R 2E0

250-245-8211

Steve Bachen, Fisheries Technian,

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Pacific Biological Station

P.O. Box 100,

Nanaimo, B.C. V9R 5K6

250-756-7174

Dennis Rutherford, Stock Assessment Biologist,

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Pacific Biological Station

P.O. Box 100,

Nanaimo, B.C. V9R 5K6

250-756-7174

Ken Dunsworth, Forest Ecosystem Specialist,

Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks,

P.O. Box 190,

Hagensborg, B.C. V0T 1H0

250-982-2064

Dave MacLain, Engineer,

Northwest Hydraulic Consultants Ltd.

North Vancouver, B.C.

604-980-6011

Watershed Name: SHEEMAHANT RIVER UTM Coordinates: _______________________

Watershed Code: 910-1288-798-535 NTS Maps: _______________________

Watershed Name: KULL CREEK UTM Coordinates: _______________________

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Watershed Code: 910-1288-798-102 NTS Maps: 92M.068, 78 .