Central Estuary Restoration Project Update - May 10, 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.

This week was the week we were have been preparing for and it was all hands on deck to advance construction as the tides moved into their bi-weekly low tide cycle. The lower tides allowed us successfully place the box culvert foundation and pieces in place. The 11 box culvert pieces, each weighing in at 17,000 kg, and 2 box culvert head walls weighing in at 22,000 kg were gently placed and assembled in their resting spot. Works were guided by the expertise of our supplier, design engineers, contractor, crane operator and Fisheries and Oceans Canada engineering staff who are supervising works. It took a big team to realize this weeks work and we are happy to report that it came together like clockwork! 

We remain on schedule and 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 and will update this blog site when the road is open again to traffic. 

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 srws@shaw.ca