Glossary

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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Alevin:

Another name for juvenile fish which have recently hatched from the egg. This is an intermediate life stage during which the fish feed off an attached yolk sac.
 

Annual vegetation:

vegetation that completes its growth cycle in one year.
 

Aquatic Habitat:

Areas associated with water that provide food and cover and other elements critical to the completion of an organism’s life cycle (e.g., bogs, swamps, riparian areas and streams).
 

Avoidance:

Minimizing the effects of an undertaking on fish habitat through the identification and bypassing of areas of concern to fisheries.
 

Bedload:

Particulates that are transported along the channel bottom in the lower layers of stream flow by rolling and bouncing.
 

Benthic Invertebrates:

Animals lacking backbones that live in the substrates of aquatic systems.
 

Best Practice:

a method or technique that should be followed to ensure the standards are met and impacts to riparian and aquatic habitats are mitigated.
 

Bioengineering:

The use of living plant materials to perform some engineering function (e.g., enhanced soil stability).
 

Check Dam:

A small dam constructed in a ditch or similar place to decrease water velocity and promote the accumulation of sediment.
 

Clear-span bridge:

a stream crossing structure which spans the stream’s bankfull channel.
 

Coffer Dam:

A watertight enclosure built in a shallow river or creek, which is pumped dry to allow construction activities in the isolation of flowing water.
 

Compensation:

“The placement of natural habitat, increase in the productivity of existing habitat or maintenance of fish production by artificial means in circumstances dictated by social and economic conditions, where mitigation techniques and other measures are not adequate to maintain habitats for Canada’s fisheries resources” (DFO, 1986).
 

Critical habitat:

habitat used by species at risk or habitat critical to sustaining local populations of a species, because of its rareness, productivity, and sensitivity. This includes high value spawning/rearing or nesting habitat.

DFO:

Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans
 

Deleterious substance:

any substance that, if added to any water, would degrade or alter the quality of that water so that it becomes toxic or harmful to aquatic organisms or habitat.
 

Diversion Dam:

A barrier built within the active channel of a watercourse in order to divert water along a different flow path.
 

Diversion Ditch:

A ditch that directs water and silt into stabilized areas away from a watercourse.
 

Due Diligence:

A legal term that requires individuals on the job to maintain a reasonable standard of care. This term applies to environmental precautions but also to other areas such as safety, for example.
 

Dyke:

An impervious elongated mound of earth constructed to confine water or another liquid from entering or leaving an area of land.
 

Ecosystem:

the dynamic and interrelated complex of plant and animal communities and their non-living environment. All parts of an ecosystem, including physical, chemical, and biological components, are interconnected; that is, they affect and are affected by all other parts.
 

Erosion:

a natural process of sediment movement as a consequence of water currents, rainfall runoff, or wind, which may be considered beneficial or detrimental, depending upon the associated environmental concerns.
 

Fish:

all fish, shellfish, crustaceans and marine animals, and the eggs, spawn, spat and juvenile stages of fish, shellfish, crustaceans and marine animals.
 

Fish habitat:

the areas in and about a stream, such as spawning grounds and nursery, rearing, food supply and migration areas, on which fish depend directly or indirectly in order to carry out their life processes. This includes streamside habitat.
 

Floodplain:

a level, low-lying area adjacent to streams that is periodically flooded by stream water. It includes lands at the same elevation as areas with evidence of moving water, such as active or inactive flood channels, recent fluvial soils, sediment on the ground surface or in tree bark, rafted debris, and tree scarring.

Grade:

The slope of road, channel, or natural ground.
 

Geotextile Filter Fabric:

A synthetic material placed under erosion control material (i.e., riprap), with the primary functions of layer separation, aggregate confinement and distribution of load.
 

Harmful Alteration, Disruption or Destruction of Fish Habitat (HADD):

The DFO define HADD of fish habitat as “any change in fish habitat that reduces its capacity to support one or more life processes of fish”.
 

Habitat:

the natural home of a plant or animal within an ecosystem, which provides food and shelter and other elements critical to an organism’s health and survival.
 

Habitat Enhancement:

Any manipulation of habitat that improves its value and ability to meet the specified requirements of one or more species.
 

Hyporheic zone:

the porous layer of the streambed.
 

Instream window:

A period of least risk during which instream works are permitted. When works are timed to occur during the instream window, there is a reduced risk of damage to spawning habitat, fish eggs, and juvenile fish and reduced impacts to adult and juvenile aquatic organisms that may be migrating, over-wintering or rearing.
 

Migration:

Animal movements between two or more separate habitats (e.g., from over-wintering habitat to spawning habitat).
 

Mitigation:

Actions taken during the planning, design, construction, and operation of a project to alleviate or reduce potential adverse effects on aquatic habitat, such as culvert design modifications to allow fish passage, timing constraints for instream work, and erosion control measures.
 

No Net Loss:

A working principle of the Federal DFO which strives to balance unavoidable habitat losses through avoidance, mitigation, and habitat replacement on a project-by-project basis. (DFO, 1986).
 

Revegetation:

The re-establishment of vegetation in disturbed areas.
 

Riparian Vegetation:

Vegetation adjacent to a watercourse, lake, swamp, or spring, that is generally critical for wildlife cover, fish food organisms, stream nutrients and large organic debris, and for stream bank stability.
 

Riprap:

Rock or stone placed on earth surfaces for protection of the soil against the erosive action of flowing water or precipitation.

SARA:

Federal Species at Risk Act
 

Sediment:

Particulate matter that is entrained within, or settled out from, water.
 

Silt:

The fine-particulate fraction of sediment.
 

Silt Fence:

A synthetic barrier erected to restrict the movement of unconsolidated material from a disturbed area to any sensitive areas.
 

Spawning Habitat:

Fish habitat associated with the breeding of fish.
 

Species at Risk:

a species designated as a Species at Risk by provincial or federal legislation or policy due to its vulnerable, threatened, or endangered status.
 

Standard:

a regulatory requirement that must be followed in the design and implementation of your works. This may also be referred to as a condition or requirement.
 

Stream:

a natural watercourse or source of water supply, whether usually containing water or not, ground water, and a lake, river, creek, spring, ravine, swamp and gulch. Substrate: The bottom or bed materials of a water body or watercourse in which plants and organisms live and grow.
 

Suspended Solids:

Particulate matter, such as silt or clay, that is entrained within a water column (i.e., has not settled to the substrate)
 

Vegetation clearing window:

A period of least risk for vegetation disturbance when there will be a reduced risk of impacting bird eggs, nests, and young. Timing windows vary depending on a site-specific basis, depending on which species may be present and the sensitivity of habitat.
 

WLAP:

BC Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection
 

Woody Debris:

Sound and rotting logs and stumps that provide cover for small animals and their predators (both fish and wildlife).
 

References | Appendix I: Monitoring

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