Description

Lower Cougar Creek Pond Leveler

Project Lead : Nikolai Karpun

Project Description

The Lower Cougar Creek Pond Leveler project aimed to facilitate salmon migration upstream towards spawning habitat. The active beavers have created large dams in a creek that is prevented from meandering. This greatly impedes the ability for some salmon species to reach their desired spawning grounds. The pond leveler allows salmon to swim through the dam, and allows water to flow downstream year-round.

What was your biggest challenge?

The largest challenge of this project was navigating this activity with the pandemic restrictions. There was a large physical component that required in-person activities, and our permit only allowed for a small window in which we were allowed to work in the stream.

What was your most valuable take away?

To me, a big takeaway was how valuable it is to have a team, and cheerleader on your side - I think this is really a strength of the Ocean Bridge program. I'm someone who can't always be trusted to believe fully in the worth of what they're doing, and I can be a perfectionist - which can mean that projects don't always get completed, or I that I don't allow myself to dream big enough.  

Status 

The pond leveler was successfully installed in Lower Cougar Creek, and future work looks to restore the riparian vegetation in the surrounding area. There are also discussions about installing a second pond leveler at an upstream site that provide an opportunity to engage future groups, in addition to further riparian planting events.

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