Big Bar landslide response information bulletin

July 24 2020

On this page

• Ongoing onsite operations
• Update on fish monitoring
• Enhancement program update
• Current images of work being done at the landslide site

Ongoing onsite operations

Water levels subsided over the last week at the Big Bar landslide site, but remain high while crews complete work on the Phase 2 installation of the Whooshh™ system. Crews reinstalled the pumps and electrical panels, adjusted the position of some of the Whooshh™ components to suit the Phase 2 layout, tensioned the fish tube cables, and connected the Whooshh™ skids and platforms.

The BC River Forecast Centre is predicting another possible spike in river levels in the coming days. The team is monitoring the situation closely and will adjust its work accordingly.

Update on fish monitoring

As of July 22, 233 chinook have been successfully radio tagged. These fish have been monitored migrating towards Big Bar from Bridge River, but none have been detected moving past the slide site. Salmon movement through the area is highly dependent on water levels and flow conditions at any given time. The sustained high-water conditions are challenging for fish.

Monitoring of the lower Fraser River has detected approximately 45,000 sockeye entering the Fraser River. Of these, an estimated 12,500 are Early Stuart sockeye. Some will migrate to other portions of the Fraser above Big Bar, including the Nadina, Taseko and Bowron rivers. The remainder will head to other parts of the Fraser watershed, including the Thompson River.

A small number of sockeye have been observed by sonar stations downstream of the slide site, but none upstream. As a result, monitoring crews began seining the Fraser River for sockeye in the Lillooet area on July 22 to apply radio tags. To date, none have been caught using the seine net.

Enhancement program update

To date, technicians operating the fish wheel have captured 36 chinook, which have been transferred to the French Bar Creek Fish Holding Facility. DNA testing is underway, but preliminary data suggests that most of the fish tested so far are from streams in the lower end of the Upper Fraser, between Big Bar and Prince George.

Current images of work being done at the landslide site