Central Estuary Restoration Project Construction Update May 3, 2019

​The Squamish River Watershed Society (SRWS), in partnership with Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Squamish Nation is currently implementing phase 1 of the Central Estuary Restoration Project. Phase 1 of the project is focused on upgrading an existing culvert to improve fish access between the Squamish River and the estuary, and active construction for this commenced in April 2019.

It was a busy and exciting week on the site as we prepare for box culvert install next week. The new culvert is no small pipe! it measures 3m x 3m, and spans roughly 30m long when assembled. This week was spent excavating the existing damaged culvert, preparing the pad for the crane needed to lift culvert sections, and receiving the culvert pieces that came up on 7 over-sized loads from Langley!

Works are proceeding on schedule, and we will be taking advantage of next week’s low tide windows to lay the culvert foundations, and assemble the 11 culvert pieces, and 2 headwalls into to place. Fisheries and Oceans Canada staff are onsite supervising works, and the road remains temporarily closed to traffic. 

We are doing our best to partially re-open the road to traffic by May 15th for the start of the upcoming windsport season. Once the culvert is in place and the road reinstated, we will be placing rip-rap on the estuary and river side of the inlet/outlet until June 2019. We continue to work in collaboration with all stakeholders including the Squamish Windsports Society’s Board of Directors to communicate construction updates to the windsport community and the general public.

We appreciate your continued understanding and support as we undertake this work that is critical to the survival of juvenile salmonids, particularly Chinook – an at risk species that is a primary food source for the southern resident killer whales. For more information on the science that has informed this project please visit:

https://www.squamishwatershed.com/cerp-updates/juvenile-chinook-an-at-risk-species-limited-by-the-squamish-river-training-berm
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Questions can be directed to [email protected]