OKANAGAN RIVER RESTORATION INITIATIVE - MOVING AHEAD BY MOVING BACK

The ORRI is an outstanding example of a successful international partnership of government agencies and non-government organizations (including provincial, federal, first nations & groups) aimed at restoring salmon stocks in a transboundary watershed with borders that fish do not recognize. This project works in unison with three other projects on the Okanagan River (sockeye range extension, McIntyre Dam modification, and the FWMT) to address the key factors limiting salmonid production. Fish production in the Okanagan River was impacted by dams in the early 1900s and flood protection measures in the 1950s. The river was shortened by over 45%, and channelling eliminated 90% of the rivers riparian and wetland habitat. Approximately 84% of the river has been channellized, reducing egg to fry survival to half that found in non-channelled reaches (Long, 2004). In addition, channelization has completely removed key rainbow/steelhead juvenile rearing habitat (Matthews 2005 & 2006). This project will restore a portion of the Okanagan River to its original configuration, improving the habitat for indigenous species of sockeye salmon and kokanee (Oncorhynchus nerka), rainbow trout and steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha),and mountain whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni). Restoration objectives include setting back dykes, reconstructing natural river features, developing complex spawning and rearing habitat, improving egg-to-fry survival, reducing silt deposition, creating high quality complex rearing habitat, reconnecting the river with its former floodplain, and restoring riparian vegetation. The project utilizes an ecosystem-based, adaptive management approach to ensure all project elements are coordinated in a sustainable fashion. By moving back to a more historic channel morphometry, geographical range and river hydrograph we hope to move ahead to a more secure sockeye production scenario.