Hazeltine Creek Habitat Restoration

Water Street was retained by Golder to provide river and habitat restoration support for the remediation of Hazeltine Creek and Edney Creek on behalf of the Mount Polley Mining Corporation (MPMC). Golder has been providing integrated engineering and environmental support to the Mount Polley Mine since the tailings dam breach in August 2014.

The immediate response to the breach included fisheries, river engineering, environmental remediation, and construction services in collaboration with other consultants, MPMC’s technical staff and their First Nation partners. While working at Golder, James Ogilvie (2014 to 2021) and Allan Bronsro (2014-2017), were key members of this work. Water Street’s involvement in the project began in 2021 when James Ogilvie joined the company.

The restoration of 9 km of Hazeltine Creek and 1 km of Edney Creek was carried out in two phases. The first phase was to stabilize the channel and construct a non-erodible channel foundation, and the second phase was to construct habitat features to re-establish the biological functions of the creek.

The initial channel stabilization work was completed cost-effectively over five months using a combination of traditional channel design techniques and innovative field engineering methods. Habitat features were then designed and constructed for the needs of fish historically present in the system, including rainbow trout, sockeye and coho salmon. In the reconstructed parts of both creeks, all fish species previously using those systems have returned.

Current work includes the construction of habitat features in the lower reaches of both creeks and ongoing monitoring and support.