Policy brief – supporting freshwater salmon habitat through the Water Sustainability Act

Recently, Raincoast’s Wild Salmon Team met with the new BC Minister of Water, Land, and Resource Stewardship, the Hon. Minister Randene Neill to talk about how to better support struggling salmon populations by protecting the water they need. Following a productive meeting, we left the Minister with a brief that outlined the policy tools that can be used to ensure that wild salmon thrive in our province and are resilient to climate change.

The Water Sustainability Act has been in force since 2016, and with it came a suite of tools to better manage water for both fish and people. Governments at all levels in Canada have recently stressed the importance of supporting the local economy in an increasingly unstable world. It is important to remember that our water, and the incredible fish that return to our watersheds, are one of our greatest natural resources and are an integral part of strong and resilient local economies.

We are hopeful that the new Minister and her team will use the tools in the Water Sustainability Act to fulfill their mandate to:

“Work collaboratively to protect critical ecosystems alongside First Nations, communities, workers, industry, organizations, and the public in a way that upholds rights and title claims, and contributes to long term, inclusive economic growth that benefits all British Columbians.” 

CC: Ministry of Water, Land, and Resource Stewardship
Hon. Minister Randene Neill, MLA Powell River-Sunshine Coast

Wild salmon are foundational

Wild salmon are the foundation of ecosystems and communities across British Columbia, yet their habitats continue to be threatened, degraded or destroyed by human activity. 

The provincial government has jurisdiction over freshwater salmon habitat and activities that occur on the landscape, such as forestry, mining, and agriculture, which can affect watershed processes that are vital to the health of salmon.

As a new legislative session begins, we urge them to better implement laws that allow healthy wild salmon populations to persist on the landscape for generations to come. We also recommend increased funding and support for both Indigenous-led and independent non-government science and monitoring,  as well as local community-based land and water  guardian programs, which are key to conservation success. 

Water Sustainability Act

Use existing regulatory tools in the Water Sustainability Act (WSA) to address impacts of drought on salmon habitat now and into the future. 

Droughts are becoming more frequent and intense with the onset of climate change, and their impacts harm both adult and juvenile salmon. 

Recommendation

Decisions made to regulate water use during times of drought under Section 87 and Section 88 of the Act should be informed by the best available science, in-season streamflow data, prioritize at-risk salmon populations, and incorporate Indigenous knowledge.

In addition, the province should work to acknowledge the disproportionate impacts that water use regulations have on smaller farmers and ranchers and overhaul “First in Time, First in Right” rules which can favour large corporate water users over smaller independent businesses. 

Potential actions

Water use restrictions can be linked to the Critical Environmental Flow Threshold (CEFT) and/or water temperature. The CEFT is defined as the flow below which “significant and irreversible impacts” to the aquatic ecosystem occur. The CEFT for many streams is already known based on up to date science, however there should be new funding to support Environmental Flow Needs (EFN) science in watersheds which are lacking CEFT data. Water temperatures above 18 ºC are known to negatively impact salmon. Restrictions on use, emergency actions, and other mitigation options should be linked to real-time temperature data collected from permanent monitoring stations. 

“First in Time, First in Right” rules mean larger, long-time, and often corporate water users have first priority to use their entire water allocation during drought. A more equitable approach would be to focus restrictions first on larger users, giving smaller, often independent users time to prepare.   

1. Use the sensitive stream designation to prioritize high risk watersheds

Sensitive Stream Designation is a tool that highlights certain streams that are highly vulnerable to human impacts and/or have threatened or endangered fish populations. The designation places enhanced regulatory measures and restrictions around water use for the stream. However, the list of streams currently designated as a Sensitive Stream has not been updated since 1992. Since then, climate change, land use change, and a host of other impacts have profoundly altered many streams that are not listed as sensitive. 

Potential Actions

The BC government should work with First Nations and communities to perform a new risk assessment on streams throughout the province to determine if new streams should be added to the designation and receive greater protection.

2. Incorporate water temperature data and monitoring into decision-making

Recommendations

In addition to streamflow, water temperature is a critical measure that dictates the behaviour, growth, reproduction, and survival of fish. Yet, the WSA does not contain measures that allow water temperature to be incorporated in decision making. Additionally, there are large gaps in water temperature monitoring throughout the province. 

Potential Actions

The BC government should fund, install, and maintain an improved network of water temperature monitoring stations and create provisions within the WSA that allow the data to inform decision making.    

3. Increase funding for Indigenous Guardian programs

Indigenous guardian programs are the “eyes and ears” of many watersheds across BC and are vital to many research, monitoring, and habitat restoration projects. In the pursuit of its mandated alignment of provincial policy with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the BC government should increase funding to these programs so that Indigenous guardians can continue to provide important employment  for Indigenous communities in a way that supports title and rights to their lands.

You can help

Raincoast’s in-house scientists, collaborating graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and professors make us unique among conservation groups. We work with First Nations, academic institutions, government, and other NGOs to build support and inform decisions that protect aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, and the wildlife that depend on them. We conduct ethically applied, process-oriented, and hypothesis-driven research that has immediate and relevant utility for conservation deliberations and the collective body of scientific knowledge.

We investigate to understand coastal species and processes. We inform by bringing science to decision-makers and communities. We inspire action to protect wildlife and wildlife habitats.