Dan Ruimy has made his pitch for a fish passage to Alouette Lake reservoir to the highest office in the land.
Now, it remains to be seen if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is listening.
Ruimy presented a report that calls for a fish passage connecting South Alouette River to Alouette Lake to improve the returns of salmon runs.
Access to the lake where sockeye salmon spawn after returning from the Pacific Ocean has been cut off by a concrete dam built in the 1920s by BC Hydro to raise water levels for the Stave Lake reservoir.
“This report advocates for safe fish passage in our community and comes from three years of consultation, meetings and roundtables with local stakeholders,” Ruimy said on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/danruimymp/videos/316630472315267/?t=5
He made the same pitch to the House of Commons in a brief speech Thursday.
“Over the years, our water ways have been disconnected creating challenges for those who depend on the well-being of the Alouette watershed,” Ruimy told fellow MPs.
“For our salmon to thrive, there should be no barriers to their life and spawning cycles.”
He wanted to find long-term solutions to provide sustainability. “There is no better time to act than now,” Ruimy said.
The report was based on three years of consulations involving Katzie and Kwantlen First Nations, the Alouette River Management Society and the Kanaka Education and Environmental Partnership Society, and calls for fish access to the reservoir and for fish friendly pumps at the Kennedy Road pump station in Pitt Meadows.
Ruimy also presented the report to Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson.
According to ARMS, the Alouette dam led to “dramatic declines” in all five Pacific salmon species. With access to the lake blocked, sockeye became landlocked and known as kokanee. Chinook and pink salmon also disappeared, said ARMS.
