Birch Beach Creek

Backgrounder

The Ministry of Transportation (MTO) completed the realignment of the creek during the construction of the new 4 lane highway in 2014. The construction of the new highway saw the removal of both the old highway culvert and unfortunately all the vegetation along the streambanks creating a loss of overhead cover and an increased potential for predation and increased temperature. While the MTO was able to recreate a riparian zone on most of the steam, they were unable to complete the last 100 meters of stream bank.

Previous fish assessment done for the Ministry of Transport for Ontario indicated there were substantial number (~300) of Rainbow Trout Fry inhabiting the old crossing area.During the Superior Streams assessment electro-fishing was only done upstream at the hydro line where 2 Brook Trout, 1 Rainbow Trout yearling, and 10 Rainbow Trout Juveniles were observed.

Riparian replacement project

This project aimed to rehabilitate the riparian zone on the final 100 meters of the newly reconstructed stream bank.

In October of 2016 Tom Jones contracting placed 120 cubic meters of topsoil along the stream banks and volunteers from the NSSA and Thunder Bay District Stewardship Council (TBDSC) assisted in distributing the soil. A total of 150 red osier dogwood were planted on the stream banks.

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