A three-way partnership has led to improved salmonid habitat on Little Shuswap Lake.
On Feb. 12, the Little Shuswap Lake Indian Band Fisheries Department was involved in the project to clean up some old tires and concrete that were on the shores of Little Shuswap Lake.
“The concrete had come from an old cabin that was damaged two years ago in a house fire,” says Aaron Arnouse, the band’s fisheries co-ordinator. “A mess was left there with old debris from the house and an old cement retaining wall.”
Adding to the mess was an old tire wall built in the 1950s or ’60s as a water break.
Arnouse says 650 tires were removed from the site.
Once the cleanup was complete, a new rock wall was installed to provide support and stabilization of the existing bank and to prevent erosion during high water.
Willows were planted on the bottom of the rock wall for added strength and on the bank above the rock wall in hope that some of the willows grow and add extra strength and support to the ground.
“It had taken a total of seven days of work to get this site cleaned up and completed,” says Arnouse. “The concrete and tires were removed between March 12 to 19.
Arnouse says a total of 420 willows were planted in the area with the hope that at least 20 per cent of them take.
The work was completed thanks to a partnership between the Little Shuswap Indian Band and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, with $18,000 in funding provided by the BC Conservation Foundation through the federal Recreational Fisheries Conservation Partnerships Program.
