Hello,
– There have been numerous sightings of coho in Brooklyn Creek this fall, a couple as far upstream as Salish Park. This is good news. If you haven’t seen it, there are several photos and videos posted on the BCWS website.
A couple items to cover:
– you may recall an article in Decafnation regarding the sewage in Brooklyn Creek at Noel Ave. This was discovered by biologist staff from Current Environmental Ltd, a local biological consulting firm. They were conducting a Fish Habitat Assessment, a project funded by Pacific Salmon Foundation through BCWS. The sewage leak was identified on Thursday Sept. 2 around noon. That afternoon DFO, the provincial environmental hotline, and the Town of Comox were notified.
Current Environmental staff set up an isolation area and undertook mitigation by Friday noon. The Town identified the source of the spill, at Hillside but only daylights at Noel, by Friday afternoon and made their plans for a repair. All cleanup was completed by Friday evening, just before the September long weekend. Unfortunately, some of the riparian vegetation planted by volunteers in 2018 were removed in the process. We hope to replant the vegetation in the near future. In the meantime, we’re eagerly awaiting the final report from the Fish Habitat Assessment as it will guide future habitat restoration projects.
– On Oct. 20, BCWS made a presentation to the Town of Comox Council, asking they examine opportunities to have a walking path along the entire length of Brooklyn Creek within Town limits, from Guthrie to the mouth of the creek. At a subsequent Council meeting, Town Council agreed to add this to their list of initiatives. We hope this will move forward in the coming months.
– The Directors of BCWS, all 5 of us, are meeting this coming week. If you would like to join us, please let me know and I will provide details. We would love to see you.