Rising waters, pollution spillover, and salmon habitat in the Sumas Lake area of the Lower Fraser Valley: The catastrophic ‘atmospheric rivers’ of 2021
Sampling water to better understand the true extent to which the floods unleashed pollutants into local waterways.
November of 2021 was a month like many others for the temperate rainforest of coastal British Columbia – variable winds from the Southwest, skies grey, and an abundance of … precipitation. What set this year apart was the cumulative amount of rainfall in Vancouver – 312mm for the month of November – well above the average of 209mm. The atmospheric river was incessant, saturating watersheds throughout the region, culminating in the breaching of the Nooksack River in Washington State, with flood waters rising in many areas, including the Sumas Prairie region of the Lower Fraser Valley.
The landscape in the Fraser Valley has changed dramatically since settlers first arrived to a world of towering trees, abundant salmon, and vibrant Indigenous communities – and so has the climate. What was once Semá:th Xhotsa, or Sumas Lake, is now known was Sumas prairie, bringing into focus the fragility of human-altered watersheds in the face of episodic events such as the ‘atmospheric rivers’ of late 2021. Drained by large hydraulic pumps installed in 1921, the lake is now a prairie, and no longer supports a rich bounty of aquatic Indigenous foods and migrating waterbirds, but instead supports a diverse crop of blueberries, potatoes, and cabbage. (See maps in What is Sumas Lake? 100 years ago, Abbotsford had a 134 sq km lake (PHOTOS) | Urbanized (dailyhive.com))
As the flood waters rose in late November, farms, industrial sites, and urban neighbourhoods became one through a newly-created complex soup of pollutants. Manure, human waste, diesel, and pesticides mingled, defiant in the face of regulations, targeted monitoring, and best practices that toppled with the rising waters.
“The Sumas Xhotsa (Lake) was once relied upon by our ancestors and provided many of the resources required to sustain our people. The November 2021 flood event demonstrated that the spirit of the Xhotsa is alive and well and that we must learn to harmonize with Mother Nature today.”
Murray Ned, Councillor, Sumas First Nation and Executive Director, Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance.
Water sampling
We arrived on scene on December 15, 2021, after the Barrowtown Pump station had managed to quell the onslaught of water from the overflowing Nooksack River in Washington State to the south. The skies and floodplain were alive with thousands of geese, ducks and swans who appeared to remember the vibrant Sumas Lake ecosystem that preceded the drainage that began in 1921. Our goal – to understand the threat of myriad pollutants to flood-affected areas with a focus on fish (salmon) habitat and the well-being of First Nations communities.
Our surface water sampling strategy built on a plea for answers from Myles Lamont (TerraFauna Wildlife Consulting), a local biologist who witnessed the early ravages of rising waters, as well as the sights and smells of diesel and debris on the water’s surface. Over the next six weeks, we were joined by colleagues from Sumas First Nation, the Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance, the S’ólh Téméxw Stewardship Alliance, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and the BC Ministry of Forestry, Lands and Natural Resource Operations.
Our role was to complement the efforts being led by government agencies and to generate high quality data on contaminants of concern. Our intent was to better understand what the floods had done to the freshwater habitats of salmon, and to resources long valued by First Nations. The damage to agricultural crops and to homes and property were evident at a glance, but what about the quality of salmon habitat, and the health of sturgeon, freshwater clams, and migratory birds that had been stewarded for millenia by Indigenous people in the Sumas Lake area?
What we were looking for
We were looking for the usual suspects of fecal coliform, metals, and hydrocarbons, but also fertilizers, currently used pesticides, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, perfluorinated compounds and the artificial sweetener sucralose. A comprehensive list of contaminants that we hope to either detect at very low levels or not at all. Data are forthcoming, pending a detailed analysis at dedicated laboratories.
While we cannot predict now the extent to which the floods may have unleashed a torrent of pollutants into local waterways, one thing is certain: they are there and we will find them.
Thank you to our partners and funders
Pacific Salmon Foundation
BC Environment
Fisheries & Oceans Canada
Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance
S’ólh téméxw Stewardship Alliance
Sumas First Nation
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