Infographic: Big Bar landslide response - 2020 Timeline of key events

Abbreviations

• High Bar First Nation (HBFN)
• Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation (SXFN)
• First Nations Leadership Panel (FNLP)
• Upper Fraser Fisheries Conservation Alliance (UFFCA)
• Province of British Columbia (Province)
• Public Service and Procurements Canada (PSPC)
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO)
• Peter Kiewit Sons ULC (Kiewit)

Winter

January 2020

• January 9: HBFN and SXFN met with PSPC, Kiewit and JESC to develop Indigenous Benefit Plan (IBP)
• January 13/14: Second contingency planning technical team meeting held
• January 14: Equipment mobilized to site; winter work commences
• January 17: DFO Minister Jordan met with HBFN and SXFN leadership, and Kiewit during site visit
• January 23: Tripartite After Action Review of Incident Command System and response held

February 2020

• February 18: First East Toe riverbank blast successfully completed, 1,200 m³ blast material removed
• February 21: Third contingency planning technical team meeting held
• February 27: HBFN, SXFN, Province and DFO visited site
• February 29: Site access completed

March 2020

• March 4: National and regional PSPC staff, alongside regional and local DFO staff, met with HBFN and SXFN on site
• March 9 -11: HBFN, SXFN and Upper Fraser Fisheries Conservation Alliance (UFFCA) review mitigation plans
• March 16: COVID-19 response launched across the Province, landslide response continues as part of emergency operations
• March 28: “Nature-like” fishway completed
• March 29: River in-channel blasting completed

Spring

April 2020

• April 11: Final East Toe riverbank blast completed, 1,800 m³ blast material removed
• April 14: Whooshh™ Innovations Ltd awarded contract for pneumatic fish pump equipment by PSPC

May 2020

• May 7: Concrete lock block fish ladder completed
• May 19: First long-term planning technical meeting held
• May 27: First day of DFO radio tagging operations

Summer

High water period: mid-June to early August

June 2020

• June 3: French Bar Creek Holding Facility for salmon operational
• June 3: Upper Fraser First Nations and DFO met to develop a process to identify and track priority Chinook stocks for emergency conservation enhancement
• June 8: First fish radio tagged
• Mid-June to early August: Sustained higher than average flow conditions delayed fish migration; Fish transport and enhancement operations interrupted due to flooding
• June 16: Second long-term planning technical meeting held
• June 20: First fish wheel operational downstream of Big Bar, led by Gitxsan Watershed Authorities in collaboration with St’at’imc Eco Resources and administered by the Fraser Salmon Management Council
• June 21: First two Chinook arrived at concrete fish ladder and transported to French Bar Creek Holding Facility
• June 21: Two-lane Whooshh Passage Portal™ operational
• June 23: First Chinook transported to Vanderhoof adult Chinook holding facility

July 2020

• July 2-3: Permanent fishway option endorsed by JESC and FNLP
• July 14: Initial salmon observed migrating upstream when water levels dropped to 4,000 m³/s
• July 18: Indigenous crews commence truck and transport operations
• July 17: Six-lane Whooshh™ system operational
• July 22: DFO monitoring team commences beach seining in Lillooet, BC
• July 23: First two salmon arrive at Churn Creek Hydroacoustic site, confirming fish passage upstream
• July 24: First fish transported through the Whooshh™ system
• July 25: First sockeye observed in concrete fish ladder
• July 31: First batch of sockeye transferred from French Bar Creek Holding Facility to Cultus Lake Salmon Research Laboratory (CLL)

August 2020

• August 4: Sockeye start arriving at Big Bar in greater numbers
• August 11: First spawning of 35 female sockeye at CLL
• August 12: Truck and transport operations suspended, 1,500 fish moved over the slide
• August 14: Target of collecting and transporting 400 Early Stuart sockeye to CLL achieved
• August 18: Last Chinook at French Bar Creek Holding Facility transported to Vanderhoof
• August 28: Whooshh™ tube extension completed and operational; French Bar Creek Holding Facility demobilization commences
• August 30: UFFCA commences natal stream brood collection

September 2020

• September 1: Third long-term planning technical meeting held
• September 8: Whooshh™ operations concluded, 8,200 fish moved through the system; Fish wheel operations began downstream for coho radio tagging

Fall

October 2020

• October 6: Indigenous partners and DFO released 20,000 2019 brood year Early Stuart sockeye as fall smolts
• October 21: DFO monitoring program concluded onsite operations and radio tagging activities, 1,000 fish radio tagged
• October 24: Alfalfa and Churn Creek sonars ceased operations, 161,000 fish detected 40 km upstream of slide site to date

November 2020

• November 17: PSPC awarded permanent fishway construction contract to Kiewit

December 2020

• December 7: JESC representatives briefed FNLP regarding next steps in permanent fishway implementation and 2021 summer operations
• December 8: HBFN and SXFN leadership visited the site along with DFO, PSPC, Provincial and Kiewit staff
• December 15: Fourth long-term planning technical meeting held